Destined to Dream
by spelunker
Summary: Hermione sends a message back in time, to warn Harry of the next seven years. Only it doesn't reach the intended target. Lisa Turpin, 10 year old future Ravenclaw, dreams of this future and decides to change things - her own way. On HIATUS.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: These characters are totally not mine - they belong to JK Rowling.

A/N: This story is told entirely in journal format. Also, it will be OC-centric. The main characters besides Lisa will be Harry, Luna, Hermione, and Neville.

February 15th, 1990

Being a witch means that unusual things happen around you all the time. So I suppose after being a witch for the ten years of my existence, I should be used to such things. But last night something happened that I believe will change my life.

I mean, I've heard of people having visions before. True Sight, the gift is called.

Three nights ago, in the ten hours that I slept, I had a dream that encompassed the events of seven years.

The dream read like a story book, and it focused on the life on one Harry James Potter, the so-called Savior of the Wizarding World. I'm sure you already know why he is thought to be the Savior.

My dream told me all about Harry's life at Hogwarts, and showed him learning his lessons, flying for his Quidditch team, and having some boring conversations with his friend Ron Weasley about chess, quidditch, and not much else.

There was touch of romance at the end of the dream, a bit of comedy, a lot of obvious foreshadowing, and way too many seeming 'deus ex machinas', as my brother Nathan likes to call them.

At the end of the dream, one Hermione Granger (Harry's best friend) declared that she had put together this information, in an effort to send it back to Harry's younger body. She hoped it would help Harry defeat Voldemort, and in the process save many innocent lives.

Well, I'm not sure how, but the dream came to me instead of Harry.

It was pretty confusing getting bombarded with all those memories. I mean, I barely remember anything from before I was four years old, but somehow I haven't forgotten a single bit of the 'dream.' Every moment is clear in my memory, easy to recall at any given moment.

Hermione said, at the very end of the dream, that the memories will not fade as normal ones would, because they are anchored to a small pin that should be invisible to anyone but me. The pin is very tiny, and spikes through the top of my left ear, below the top curve. It almost looks like an earring.

When I woke up, I had quite the headache, which I quickly realized came from the pain of having the pin pierce my ear. Due to some spells on the pin, I wasn't bleeding, but the pain didn't go away mostly until this morning - three days later. (Let me just say I won't be hurrying to get any more piercings, no matter what my girly cousins say.)

As I said, I was confused, and it took me a few days to decide what to vision has many bits of information about the future that could be tremendously useful to me, my family, and the wizarding world in general.

I've always had some simple goals about what to do with my life. I've wanted to go to Hogwarts, do reasonably well on my N.E.W.T.s, and get a job, maybe with the Ministry, or get a research job like Mum.

Now I've been handed what amounts to a shiny golden ticket that's unlocked thousands of doors to me. Of course, sadly, the dream shows that Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Voldemort, most commonly known as You-know-who(one of the most ridiculous names I've ever heard), will come back to power and almost destroy Wizarding Britain.

I sure as hell don't want that to happen. So now I can use all of my new memories to make sure Voldemort never takes charge of the wizarding world.

Of course, I've listened to my parents debate since I began to read when I was four. They love to talk about what should be done to change the wizarding world to benefit everybody. Dad believes in the creation of a better healthcare system, and a restructured prison. Mum focuses mostly on debating how to have better education principles and a more stable economy. They also both agree that a more cautious Secrecy Policy would make things better – and that could only lead to higher approval for the leader who mandates these changes.

Mum and Dad both despise Cornelius Fudge, who apparently caters to the rich minority of bigoted Purebloods. "Cornelius Fudge has set our country back an entire generation," Dad loves to say.

Fortunately, I've been given several methods of removing Fudge from power. Maybe then we'll have someone competent in charge. Before I try to sway the political system too much, I should try to destroy the biggest obstacle to future change - Tom Riddle.

Voldemort must be destroyed, and so must his followers - the ridiculously termed 'Death Eaters' (seriously, who ever came up with these names?).

The dream gave me the names of twenty-seven Death Eaters, who I will hereafter call Death Munchers in this journal. Of course I'm sure there are more of them, but the ones I've heard of seem to be the most important.

[So there are the seventeen Death Eaters that are currently on the loose. They are Barty Crouch, Peter Pettigrew, Lucius Malfoy, Seth Avery, Aiden Nott, Vaughn Crabbe, Rupert Goyle, Edmund Travers, Walden Macnair, Antony Jugson, Robert Yaxley, Igor Karkaroff, Gavin Gibbon, Thorfinn Rowle, Amycus Carrow, Alecto Carrow, and Fenrir Greyback.]

[Then, there are ten Death Eaters currently in Azkaban... I'm not sure what to do about them, but I certainly shouldn't do nothing, not after learning of how easy it seems to be to escape from the Wizarding prison. They are Antonin Dolohov, Augustus Rookwood, Nathan Mulciber, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Alioth Gamp, Rigel Damion, Samuel Cheney. and Hubert Manson.]

Once Riddle's little 'support group' is taken care of in some way, one of the next steps will be to destroy his horcruxes (separated pieces of his soul that allow him to cling to to this world and not die).

There are currently six horcruxes – Riddle's diary(In the possession of Lucius Malfoy), Marvolo Gaunt's ring(In the ruins of the Gaunt House), Slytherin's locket(Number 12 Grimmauld Place), Ravenclaw's diadem(The Room of Requirement in Hogwarts), Hufflepuff's goblet(Bellatrix Lestrange's Gringotts vault), and Harry Potter's scar(thankfully Hermione has told me how to get rid of it!).

Also, I have to find a way to destroy the bones of Tom Riddle's father in order to prevent a body-regaining ritual he plans to use which needs the 'bones of the father' to succeed.

Once all of his followers and his advantages are incapacitated, Tom Riddle must be killed.

I doubt I'll be able to do that myself. I mean, I love to read, but that's just theory. And anyways, my magical core is still growing, and won't reach full potential until I'm at least 18. Of course, in the dream, there was an annoying prophecy that clearly insinuates that Harry Potter is the only one that can defeat Riddle. Perhaps its true, but I'm not sure... A week ago, I might have discounted it entirely, but I find it easier to believe a prophecy now that I've had my own prophetic dream.

I've also seen Harry's life history. I know that he was raised by hateful muggles who didn't give him proper nourishment, allowed their own son to bully him, and never showed the child any affection at all. I may not be a psychologist, but I can tell that's neglect, if not emotional and verbal abuse. Harry is possibly scarred for life. I hope not, of course - I feel as if I know him well already, having seen many years of his memories.

If Harry does need to be the one to defeat Voldemort, I'm going to be the best person to help him! With my knowledge, I can help teach him more about, well, everything. Hogwarts can do some things, but not many. In the dream, I realized that I quite admire Hermione, and would like to accomplish as much, if not more, as she did when at Hogwarts.

Unlike Hermione, Harry seemed to slack off for most of his time at Hogwarts, and scraped by in his classes on his natural talent. Honestly, it is mostly because he followed the example of the first person to befriend him - Ronald Weasley.

I have to say I'm not a big fan of Ronald Weasley. He was generally unkind to Hermione for many years, was constantly jealous of Harry for things Harry never chose to have, and even abandoned them twice - in 4th year and of course in 7th year. How Hermione put up with him I'll never understand. Also, most of the things Ronald did, even up until he was seventeen, seem immature to me - and I'm only ten years old!

The other thing I'm worried about is Albus Dumbledore. Hermione made it very clear in the dream what Dumbledore's full history was.

I'll include my notes on Dumbledore here, in case I need to reference them later.

[ Many people think of Albus Dumbledore as the greatest wizard of all time. This is quite an impressive belief. How exactly did Dumbledore get all this fanfare? He gained power by being "good," fighting for the people, refusing absolute power(the job of Minister), but secretly manipulated everyone behind their backs.

Examples of this: Dumbledore had Harry placed with his muggle relatives, and set him up for a childhood of misery. Then, when Harry came to Hogwarts, he would be so grateful to have escaped the Dursleys, that he would think of Dumbledore as his savior. This is exactly what happened in the dream. Harry trusted the Headmaster absolutely, even when it seemed that Dumbledore let dangerous things happen to Harry.

Somehow Dumbledore did not realize, despite his powers of legilimency, that Riddle was possessing his Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Quirinus Quirrell, for an entire school year. Of course, he often allowed incompetent teachers at his school (Snape(abusive of students, and of his power), Binns (ineffective at least), Trelawney (useless), Quirrell (possessed), Lockhart (clueless and useless), Hagrid(good man, bad teacher), Moody (actually Barty Crouch Junior under polyjuice), Umbridge (sack of dung)) when he should be finding the best Professors possible to teach the youth.

My parents often speak of the deteriorating quality of education in Britain, but I never realized just how bad it can get! Dumbledore also chose to keep the Philosopher's Stone, a target for many power-hungry people, in the school, past an obstacle course that three first years could pass through easily – thereby endangering the lives of hundreds of school children needlessly.

Then, in Harry's second year, he hired the incompetent Lockhart and seemed to be doing nothing to search for the cause of the petrifications. At the end of Harry's third year, he allowed Dementors access to the grounds, where they almost Kissed Harry. Dumbledore also encouraged Harry and Hermione to break the law and use a Time Turner to save Sirius Black (an innocent man imprisoned in Azkaban for twelve years without trial - Dumbledore could easily have pushed for such a trial years earlier as the Head of the Wizengamot), rather then simply informing them that they could testify under veritaserum _or_ give pensieve memories to prove Black's innocence.

Dumbledore refused to tell Harry of the prophecy for many years, and forced him to return to the Dursleys on the trumped up reason of 'blood wards,' which Dobby was easily able to breach. In Harry's fourth year, Dumbledore forced him to participate in a dangerous competition with wizards of twice his experience, against Harry's will. He also was unable to recognize that a 'good friend' of his, Alastor Moody, was actually a Death Muncher impersonator. Dumbledore allowed Rita Skeeter access to the school grounds and didn't do anything to stop the hurtful gossip that she wrote about his students. The next year, Dumbledore allowed Umbridge to teach Defense, where she taught practically nothing and gave out detentions for the simplest things. Her use of a blood quill on students was immoral and highly illegal, yet Dumbledore let it happen.

In summary, because Dumbledore has almost absolute power, he abuses it. No matter what he really thought he was doing, whether it was for the "Greater Good" or not, he effectively ruined the life of Harry Potter, and probably many others in the bargain (Why did Dumbledore never try to clear Hagrid's unfairly blemished name, even when he knew of the half-giant's innocence, and could have used his influence to get him a wand again?). He made it so Harry had nothing to live for, and let Voldemort kill him during the Final Battle. Harry Potter's life is one I would not wish on anyone.]

I will definitely have to be careful around Dumbledore. Thankfully I won't have to deal with him until I go to Hogwarts in eighteen months.

Eighteen months... I should definitely try to change things before then. After all, at Hogwarts I will probably be limited to the castle and nearby grounds. A lot of my plans involve travel... which is an issue I definitely need to figure out.

Who am I kidding? I have a TON of things to figure out. If I want to save the Wizarding World, I need to prepare myself for my tasks. Right now I don't even own a wand.

What do I have going for me? My brains, I suppose, in addition to the new seven years of memories. My mum has always said I'm a shoo-in for Ravenclaw - I read all the time, and often about magic. I love having liberal parents!

I don't need to study much at this point - I have the memories of hundreds of books and thousands of lectures and tests - including the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T exams - in my head! But of course its all theory until I start practicing casting the spells.

Since I don't have a wand, I'll have to start practicing wandless magic. Unfortunately, that's apparently even harder, since you don't have a magical core to use to focus your magic with.

Well, I should go start working if I'm going to save the world. I'll make sure to keep writing in this journal.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Yes, this is an OC-centric story. If that's not your thing, that's fine. I've tried not to make her a real Mary-sue. Lisa is ambitious and smart, but she's rather Slytherin in both her plans and her methods.

Disclaimer: These characters are totally not mine - they belong to JK Rowling.

* * *

March 12th, 1990

It's been almost a month since I've written, but I have been terribly busy!

The day after I wrote last, I told my parents that I wanted to study more in order to get a head start before going to Hogwarts in two years. They quickly warned me not to lose track of having fun, and after I promised to still play, they relented... and shared all of their favorite books on magic with me.

Perhaps the most important find was an old book Dad found on Occlumency, called _Strengthening your Mind._ What exactly is Occlumency? The simple answer is mental acuity obtained through practice. I've studied the book for several weeks now, and practiced the first few techniques.

First I learned how to clear my mind and organize it properly. Just yesterday, I finally finished sorting the entire "dream"'s worth of memories, into different sections of my mind. I've also started learning how to protect my mind from attack.

I've learned to imagine my mind as a castle, filled with many rooms and objects, many of them useless. My memories hide in secret places within the castle. Around the castle, I put a wild maze, which contains a number of traps that will hopefully ensnare anybody who tries to break into my mind. Over the castle and the maze, I threw a mental invisibility cloak, to make it even harder to use legilimency on me. Legilimency, which I know Dumbledore, Severus Snape, and Voldemort all know - is a magical method of reading other people's minds - this is the type of 'attack' I was speaking of.

After I organized my mind, I discovered that it was much easier to absorb knowledge. As I've gone through several volumes on all sorts of magic (charms, hexes, transfigurations, defensive spells, arithmancy, ancient runes, and so on), I've been able to store the new information away in the spots I've designated for certain memories.

I spent a few weeks attempting wandless magic, but at first found it incredibly difficult. But after learning occlumency, I was able to recognize my magic strands within my mind. I taught myself to draw out the strands upon a second's command, and have already done a couple dozen basic spells wandlessly and wordlessly.

Instead of practicing spells in the order that Harry and Hermione learned them at Hogwarts, I am focusing on a much shorter list of the ones I feel will be most useful for my plans.

I've learned a few jinxes and a few glamour spells. So far I have had the least luck with transfiguration spells - I haven't succeeded with a single one.

* * *

March 30th, 1990

I've finally succeeded with a transfiguration! I turned a match into a pin. Yes, I realize that won't be incredibly helpful with my worldly goals, but apparently the transfiguration I was attempting needs to be built up to. I might not learn complex transfigurations for several years, no matter that I know _how_ to do NEWT level ones... I will not be angry about this - everybody has their strengths and weaknesses, and I have found one of mine.

* * *

April 8th, 1990

We celebrated Mira's birthday today. She is now nine, and has declared she wants to try studying with me. I let her, but she has more trouble than I do, so she is working on the regular 1st year books. We also had delicious chocolate cake with cherries in it.

I've been focusing on three main things: the stunning spell, Stupefy; the memory wiping charm, Obliviate; and basic legilimency, reading minds.

* * *

May 15th, 1990

I'm getting much better at stunning spells. The spell holds for about an hour on tiny animals like mice, but a deer I stunned was only out for fifteen minutes. Don't worry, none of them were actually harmed! Afterwards they woke up and walked away, a bit confused but not injured.

* * *

June 14th, 1990

Mira caught me mixing the pancake batter with magic this morning. It was a simple locomotion charm, but she was astounded.

I made her promise not to tell mum and dad, and in return promised to teach her how to do wandless magic.

Mira's quite excited, and I am too. It's a relief to be able to share one of my secrets with someone. I don't feel as alone anymore.

* * *

July 1st, 1990

For a little sister, Mira is surprisingly smart. She's already highly proficient with the levitation charm and the locomotion charm. It's wonderful to know she'll do well, even without me around to be her protective big sister... It will be strange going to Hogwarts a year before she can. I hope she won't feel lonely then. She can be silly, and immature at times, but she's still my best friend... I wonder if I'm hers.

* * *

July 4th, 1990

Yesterday I practiced the stunning spell on a person for the first time. Cody was reading in bed, so when I stunned him, he just fell gently back onto the pillows. When he was unconscious, I tried reading his mind, and found it even easier than when he was awake.

Next I tried a bit of legilimency, and found a memory of him trying to catch a gnome near the forest. It had bit him on the hand, and then run off. Carefully I constructed a new memory, one where he had caught the gnome, scolded it, and tossed it off into the woods, where it had scurried off. Cody smiled in his sleep.

I didn't try anything more, and Cody woke up half an hour later, with no ill effects. I teased him about taking a nap.... Then I left, feeling guilty.

I won't try the stunning spell or the memory replacement on him again. Or on anyone else innocent... unless it is absolutely necessary.

Still, now that I know I can use those spells on people - I think I'll be ready for my first plan very soon.

* * *

July 13th, 1990

Today we all went to Hogsmeade to see my aunt and uncle. Mum and Dad let us all explore on our own, although I was supposed to stick with Cody. Luckily, we ran into Henry, one of Cody's friends. The two boys were so absorbed in their conversation that they didn't notice when I slipped away.

I headed out of Hogsmeade, toward the house of Barty Crouch (I had read the Ministry Directory to find his address). I knew he wouldn't be home, because Tuesdays, I knew from the dream, was the day the Ministry's administration had their weekly meetings.

When I reached the house, I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door.

"Hello?" A small house elf peered up at me. Yep, that was Winky, I recalled from the dream.

I quickly stunned her. She fell to the ground, out like a light. Breathing a sigh of relief, I gently pushed her inside, closed the door, and carefully removed her memory of seeing me. Nothing else in her mind was harmed.

"Point me to Barty Crouch, Junior," I whispered, and my hand moved through the air to point toward a closed door. Unfortunately, it was locked, and I hadn't yet mastered unlocking charms.

"Bloody hell," I muttered. I looked around, and wandered into the kitchen, where I picked out a large knife, and using a locomotor charm, carefully stabbed it around the lock, cutting it out. I dropped the knife to the ground and pulled the door towards me. It swung open easily.

Inside the room was Barty Crouch, Jr. His eyes were glazed from the Imperius Curse, and he couldn't have fought if he tried.

I stunned him quickly, then obliviated him of that memory for good measure. Then I noticed something silvery against the wall of the room. It was an Invisibility Cloak.

"Yes, yes, yes," I whispered, doing a very quick jig. I grabbed the cloak, wandlessly shrunk it, and slipped it into the toe of my left boots, jamming my foot in after it so as not to lose it.

I spent a few minutes using legilimency on Barty Crouch, taking care to replicate every single memory the man had and locking them in a box in my castle of memories, for future study. The pin would ensure that I wouldn't lose those memories. I thought for a moment, then did the same with Winky.

It was then a simple matter to plant a different memory in Barty and Winky's minds. They would remember that Barty overcame his father's Imperius curse, summoned the knife to get rid of the lock, then grabbed the invisibility cloak and ran out the door. Next, he stunned Winky when she tried to stop him, then made his way towards Hogsmeade.

I tried to levitate him through the trees, but, again, I wasn't a master of levitation.

For the thousandth time in months, I wished I had a wand.

Since I couldn't levitate him, I had to get creative. I decided to cast a couple of cushioning charms underneath him and physically dragged him to Hogsmeade. I crept back to the village, cursing my nonexistent muscles, and hoping that nobody would notice.

Thankfully, nobody did. We entered Hogsmeade through an alleyway between a small stationery shop and a cafe. I propped Barty against the wall of the alleyway, took off the cushioning charms and screamed loudly.

I cast a leg locking curse on him, then ennervated him, noticing that his eyes were normal, so he was no longer under the Imperius curse. I screamed again and stunned him.

Quickly, I planted a false memory in his mind of him attacking me in the alley, in the hopes of procuring a wand, and banished him toward the opening of the alleyway.

I ran after his flying body, looking the part of the terrified little girl. Looking around, I saw that my cries had attracted a number of people.

"He tried to attack me," I cried, keeping my eyes wide and scared.

"Are you alright, dearie?" A concerned gray haired lady reached for my arm, and I nodded.

"What's going on - " A bearded man in a blue vest stepped up.

"My god! That's Barty Crouch!" One man shouted, pointing at him.

I repressed a smirk as someone yanked up his sleeve and revealed the Dark Mark.

"I thought he was supposed to be dead!" A middle-aged woman cried.

"He was," came a grim voice. A grizzled man, probably in his fifties, was peering down at the stunned Death Eater.

Ah, Mad-Eye Moody, of course. I certainly remembered him from the dream.

"I'll take him to the ministry," Moody said calmly. "You, miss, come with me. You'll need to testify."

I nodded, making sure to keep my eyes wide. Moody apparated Crouch and I with him to the lobby of the Ministry, which I recognized from my dream. There was an uproar among everybody there once they realized who we had in custody.

I pretended not to listen (although I did, very carefully) while everybody fussed about.

Eventually, we got to a room, where I was with Moody, the still-unconscious Crouch, Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, five Aurors, and Minister Fudge himself.

I quickly told them my story – how I had just been walking in Hogsmeade when the man had grabbed me and pulled me into an alley. I screamed and 'accidentally' used magic to stop him.

They easily believed me. I mean, who would suspect a ten year old girl of such dissembling? Indeed, several of them were impressed that I was able to wandlessly petrify his legs and stun him.

When they administered Veritaserum on the prisoner, Barty Crouch quickly revealed the entire story of his prison break and his life since, under his father's constant Imperius. Amelia Bones looked grim, and Moody looked very pleased. Barty Junior was sent off to Azkaban, a trial was scheduled in a week, and three aurors were sent to capture Barty Crouch, Sr., who would most likely be spending time in Azkaban with his son.

"You have our gratitude for helping us catch a criminal," Amelia Bones told me seriously.

Fudge nodded, still looking rather nervous.

"I believe the reward for the capture of a Death Eater still stands," the black Auror said, sending me a kind smile. Ah, Kingsley Shacklebolt, of course. He was one of the future Order of the Phoenix members, and the future Minister in my dream.

"Really?" I said, my eagerness completely real for once.

"A hundred and fifty galleons," Amelia said, granting me a small smile. "Enough to start your own account at Gringotts, I believe. Perhaps an award of some sort, Minister?"

"Of course, of course," Fudge said quickly. "Order of Merlin, Third Class?"

I beamed at them. Everything had gone according to plan.

With Barty Crouch, Junior in prison, Riddle had lost one of his strongest supporters. Also, I realized happily, my relationship with the Ministry had just started on a very positive note. It would help me gain connections, and had also given me an instant reputation in the Wizarding community.

* * *

As soon as Moody had left the building, I made my excuses and said I would floo back to Hogsmeade, where my family was waiting.

Trying to calm my racing heart, I decided to try one of my plans that I had planned for the future. Fortunately, I had just the materials for it right now.

When I stepped into the elevator, I was the only person there. I quickly took off my shoe, fished out the shrunken Invisibility Cloak, enlarged it, and slipped it over my head. I then cast silent cushioning charms on my boots so nobody could hear me walking.

The Ministry was in such an uproar over the capture of Barty Crouch that nobody noticed when the elevator doors opened and nobody was seen exiting.

I proceeded to the Department of Mysteries, where I was relieved to discover there was no guard. I ran through the memories in the dream, and within five minutes, I had found the Time Room, and grabbed a Time Turner.

I reminded myself not to get too cocky, but then it was ridiculously easy to sneak to the lavatory, take off the cloak and hide the Time Turner under my shirt and cloak. Then I washed my hands, left the lavatory.

Why did I do such a thing? Well, I figure that if I'm going to end up gallivanting after Death Eaters, I could use an alibi. After all, I don't want mum and dad to get _too_ suspicious. Speaking of mum and dad, I remembered that I ought to head back to Hogsmeade, and quickly did so.

* * *

"The youngest person to ever receive an Order of Merlin," I finished happily, and took another bite of pumpkin pie.

"We're very proud, dear," Mum told me happily, and Dad nodded in approval. I felt a twinge of guilt as I realized that my parents only made five hundred galleons a year, and I had just made almost a third of that at the drop of a hat. But they had both told me in private that they felt I should keep my money and save it for my future, so I tried not to feel bad about receiving such a large sum.

Tomas and Nathan, my eldest brothers (they are seventeen and fourteen, respectively, and are technically my half-brothers, from my dad's first marriage), looked suitably impressed. Cody (my twelve year old half-brother) stared at me, rather bewildered.

"My little sister got an Order of Merlin," Cody said in amazement.

"I think it's great, Lisa!" Mira grinned, grabbing my hand and squeezing it.

I grinned right at her.

"I know. And I didn't even mean to! It was just because of accidental magic!"

Mira's smile crinkled even more, and I winked at her. Not for the first time, I was glad we had a secret to share.

"A hundred and fifty galleons is a lot of money," Tomas said, very wistfully. "What are you going to do with it?"

"The smart thing - I'm going to invest it."

* * *

July 15th, 1990

Yesterday I took a trip with mum to Gringotts. With the galleons I earned as reward money, I opened my own account and got my own vault, Number 973. I signed a few papers, gave a blood sample, and received a key that Mum transfigured into a signet ring upon my request.

Mum asked Arnuk (the goblin in charge of my new account) to explain to me what I could do with my money. He talked about investment possibilities, and I listened carefully. Then he produced a long list of companies that I could invest in.

I chose a few companies that I "just had a feeling about" to invest a hundred and forty of my shiny new galleons in, and secretly danced a jig, knowing how much I would probably make on my investments in the future.

I then left Gringotts, with ten galleons in my handbag for spending money. I knew exactly what I wanted to spend my money on. It wasn't hard to convince mum to let me get a potions kit, so I could get started on learning the fine art of potions. So an hour later, I was the proud owner of a collapsible pewter cauldron, a set of vials, and a large potions kit that had enough materials to cover several years' worth of potions – all for a galleon, six sickles, and eighteen knuts.

Our next stop was the trunk shop because I needed a trunk to keep my supplies in. I chose a seven lock redwood trunk that cost four galleons, five sickles, and nine knuts. For each lock, there was a separate compartment. The first six were normal, and showed an empty trunk for each one, but the last compartment had a ladder leading down into a large, empty room.

Grinning, I practically skipped out of the store with my mum – and stopped abruptly. Waiting for us were five reporters, each with a photographer or two. I could see representatives from the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, Hogsmeade Chronicle, and even from the Quibbler.

I was blinded momentarily when several flashes went off in my face.

"How did you capture Barty Crouch?" One young woman called out.

"How do you feel about getting an Order of Merlin?" A freckled lad yelled.

"What are you going to do with your reward money?" A middle-aged woman hollered, a few feet away from me. Really, that hurt my ears!

I held up a hand for silence, and surprisingly, they all quieted down.

"I did what anyone would do in defending myself," I spoke calmly. "Crouch tried to pull me into an alley and attack me, and I reacted automatically. I'm happy to be able to do a service for the Wizarding community. I was honestly stunned to get any money and such a prestigious award for just doing my duty as a witch. Thank you very much, have a good day. ...Mum, let's go now please."

I brushed a beetle off of my sleeve and into a vial, corking it just as mum apparated us away.

* * *

A little later, when I was alone in my room, I put my trunk over in the corner and then brought the beetle in the vial out of my pocket. After locking the door and shutting the windows, I sat down on by bed, looking at the beetle.

"Welcome to my home, Rita Skeeter," I said simply. "I'll let you out of the jar, but if you run away, your secret will be out within an hour."

I dumped the beetle out of the vial and onto the bed. Rita reluctantly transformed back into her human form.

"How did you know about me?" She sighed, looking both annoyed and curious.

"My boss told me," I smirked, and sat back comfortably, enjoying her stunned look.

"No, I'm not telling you who I work for," I went on. "Suffice to say, I could turn you in, and you could spend a few years in prison for being an illegal animagus, especially because of the way you use it in your line of work. But I'm sure we could come to a mutually satisfying deal."

She looked at me calculatingly.

"What kind of a deal?"

"You write a few stories that we want published, and in return we don't tell the ministry about your little secret."

"What kind of stories?"

"Oh, just a few investigations on the Ministry – perhaps an expose on Fudge – we've heard a lot about the bribes he takes. Right now, though, we have an even bigger story."

"On what?" Rita's eyes gleamed.

"Harry Potter."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Yes, this is an OC-centric story. If that's not your thing, that's fine. I've tried not to make her a real Mary-sue. Lisa is ambitious and smart, but she's rather Slytherin in both her plans and her methods.

Disclaimer: These characters are totally not mine - they belong to JK Rowling.

* * *

July 17th, 1990

It took Rita a few days to find Harry's files in the Ministry. Harry's files had been sealed from public view the day after his parents died, by the Head of the Wizengamot himself, Albus Dumbledore. Luckily, Rita had plenty of contacts, and she called in a few favors to find the file.

She then copied all of the information she found in the file - thank heavens for dictation quills - and brought it to me. The most interesting thing was Harry's location; it read, in large red letters: UNKNOWN. This was, again, because of Dumbledore, who was apparently the only person to know where Harry was sent to live after his parents' deaths.

Today, I told my parents I was going to give a small but exclusive interview to Rita Skeeter, who was going to take me out to lunch in Diagon Alley. Rita was astonishingly polite, and my parents let me go, and I promised to be back by dinner.

Rita did indeed take me to Diagon Alley, but our first stop was Gringotts. It was time to see the Potters' will.

Why would Rita be given permission to see it, you might wonder? She wouldn't. But I would.

I've known for years that Harry Potter and I are related. On our family tree in my parents' study, you can clearly see how this happened.

Lily Potter, nee Evans, was the daughter of a squib, Mary Marchbanks. Mary was the younger sister of Richard Marchbanks, my mother's father. Therefore, Harry and I have the same great-grandparents, and are consequently second cousins.

Sadly, my mother's father Richard was a weak man, who followed the rules of his strict parents Elijah and Harriet Marchbanks. They were bigots, and as soon as Mary turned fifteen, they kicked her out of the house.

My mother and Lily went to school together, and became friends in their first year. In their second year, they discovered that they were cousins, and were delighted. They remained friends through their Hogwarts years and beyond.

After Lily and James died, my mother was one of many witches to petition for Harry's guardianship. She had a better reason than most; Harry's mother was her cousin _and_ good friend. Of course, due to the machinations of one Albus Dumbledore, my mother's petition was quickly and summarily denied.

At the bank, I played the part of a curious young girl. I explained that I was researching magical law as an educational project, and that my mum had approved of my coming (she actually had signed a note giving her permission, and knew that I had gone to Gringotts with Rita, who I assured her she could trust).

With my signed note, a blood test, and the fact that my mother would surely have been mentioned in the will, the goblin Nagorak set off to find the Potters' will.

Strangely, it took him quite a bit of time to find it, which made him frown heavily.

But they handed it over to me, and I read the will, with Rita peering over my shoulder. It seemed simple enough.

Lily and James Potter's first choice for guardian and trustee of their son was Harry's godfather, Sirius Black (currently in prison, despite his innocence of any crimes). Then came Harry's godmother, Alice Longbottom (who was incapacitated as well) and then Samantha Turpin, my mother, followed by Remus Lupin, Amelia Bones, Minerva McGonagall, and Filius Flitwick.

"Why wasn't the will followed? Shouldn't my parents be the ones raising my cousin?" I asked the goblin, named Nagorak.

His greenish gray skin turned a little yellowish, and I wondered if that was the equivalent of going pale for goblins.

"I – don't know," he admitted slowly. "Someone had it hidden deep within our files storage, in the wrong spot. It took me a while, but I was able to find it – luckily."

"Albus Dumbledore overrode it," Rita practically cackled.I peered down at the paper and noticed that Sirius Black and Albus Dumbledore were the witnesses to the will.

"_Despite knowing what the Potters wanted,_" she finished happily.

* * *

Our next stop was Surrey. Of course, I had made Rita swear an Unbreakable Oath not to reveal where Harry lived before taking her there. She was very startled when I told her I knew where Harry Potter lived.

"My boss told me," I explained simply, and she accepted it.

I could tell she was desperate to learn who I 'worked' for, but I certainly wasn't going to tell her I am my own boss.

There it was, Number Four Privet Drive. What a terrible neighborhood, filled with pompous suburbanite twits. We stepped up and rang the doorbell.

Petunia Dursley answered it, a fake smile pasted on her face.

"Good day!" Rita said breezily. She twitched her wand and murmured a compulsion charm to make Petunia a better 'hostess'.

Petunia immediately opened the door wide.

"Come in, come in!" Petunia said, looking a little dazed but very welcoming.

We stepped in and began to peruse the house. It was very clean, but seemed very proper – not an ounce of warmth or friendliness in it.

"Tell me about your nephew, Mrs. Dursley," Rita said smoothly, casting a quick loquacious spell and a truth spell on Mrs. Dursley.

"Oh, the freak," Petunia said, shaking her head angrily. "Had him dumped on the doorstep, no chance to say no – the threats that wizard gave me! Nasty bunch, the lot of them. Tried to beat the magic out of him, but can't say it's worked. The boy's nothing but trouble. I'll be glad when he's out of the house."

Rita looked shocked and disgusted, but wrote down everything Petunia said.

I listened grimly as she described how she made Harry do all the cooking and cleaning, how he was beaten by her husband Vernon if he did better than Dudley in school, how little they let him eat, and of course, how she thought the broom cupboard was simply too good for the likes of him!

I took the camera Rita offered me and took a few shots of the cupboard, trying to repress a shiver and failing. The cupboard was dirty and cramped. There were spiders in the corner, and in crayon, two words written on the wall – Harry's Room. That picture would soon be on the front page of the Daily Prophet.

Finally, Rita declared the interview over. We had enough dirt on the Dursleys (and on Dumbledore, for forcing them to take in their nephew) to make the headlines of the Daily Prophet. We left Privet Drive, went to the park, and Rita apparated us both straight to the Daily Prophet office.

Rita introduced me to the Editor, Stanley Bennett, and showed him the article she had written. Stanley's eyes bugged out, and sent it off to the presses immediately.

"This is the biggest story Britain's had in years," Stanley declared, "This will increase subscriptions like nobody's business! Oh, and Rita, you're getting a big bonus for this one, maybe a raise if you can come up with more stories like this one..."

Rita grinned like the cat that got the canary, and apparated me back to my backyard.

"Um..." She began hesitantly. "Thanks." She left, and I let out a sigh.

It had been a long day, and at many moments, I had been sure my plans would fail... But instead everything had worked stunningly.

I now had the scariest reporter in the business effectively on my side. True, our relationship had started with blackmail, but the story I gave her – and the bonus it brought her, made her grateful to me.

Happy with the morning's events, I unlocked my trunk, set it to the seventh setting, and climbed down into it. The room inside was the perfect size for my potions work. I had already arranged my cauldron in the center of the room, had the ingredients catalogued and stored in one corner, and all of my potions books in another corner.

I was ready to begin the next step of my great plan. Fortunately, not only had I read plenty of potions texts, but I had all of Barty Crouch's memories of seven years worth of Potions classes, as well as the classes I had seen in the dream.

I filled my cauldron with water and set it to bubbling, then started off making a few simple potions. I made a forgetfulness potion, a standard first-year potion, then a deflating draught, and finally a calming draught. It only took me a few hours, and it made me feel rather confident in my abilities. It seemed that potions was just like cooking, and theory was enough to get me pretty far.

Then I started experimenting. I was very careful, of course. I knew certain rules about potions, like the fact that hellebore and lion-fish parts should never be combined, powdered moonstone should always be added _before_ scurvy-grass, and so on.

After a few experiments, I tried something that I knew Hermione and Harry had learned in their sixth year(obviously, from the dream). I started by mixing in crushed pomegranate and lavender. Ten minutes and several ingredients later, I tossed the last ingredients into the cauldron.

I wrote down my 'notes' for the 'experiment,' and tried not to dance with delight when it was finished. I had completed a potion that had been invented by Jonathan Sleakeazy two years in the future. Only now, I had gotten there first.

Sorry, Mr. Sleakeazy. I do feel a bit guilty, but I will be using the profits to help save the world...

I massaged some of the potion into my hair, and was delighted with the effect. The potion made my admittedly plain brown hair softer, shinier, and much more pliable. The potion would last twenty four hours, and during that time, it would help keep your hair in any position you wanted it in.

By dinnertime, I had made several more batches of my hair potion.

"Did you do something to your hair, dear? It looks nice," My mum asked absentmindedly.

"Yes, I made a potion and put it in my hair," I said cheerfully, taking a bite of my mashed potatoes.

Mum and Dad simultaneously choked.

"What potion?" They chorused.

"Oh, I just made it myself," I grinned at them. I can't help but enjoy freaking them out a little.

"Honey!"

"What did you put in it?" They both sounded frantic.

I quickly listed the ingredients and the steps I used, then explained the reasoning behind it all.

"I've read so many books on potions, it wasn't too hard," I told them innocently.

They were stunned.

"All right, nothing in there sounds toxic," Mum said, frowning. "But, Lisa, really - you should know better. Magic's dangerous, and potions can be too. Even if you only meant it to be a hair potion, we should have someone check it out. Let me floo Samantha, she'll know better than either of us."

Dad nodded in agreement, and dinner went on.

"You invented a new potion?" Cody said in disbelief, feeling my hair carefully. "Damn."

Mira giggled. I grinned.

* * *

After dinner, my mum's friend Samantha Green came over. She runs a small pre-made potions store in Diagon Alley, which has so far been moderately successful. Nearly half of her potions are self-made, so she certainly knows about potions.

"This is really very impressive," Samantha told me after going over the potion several times. "There's very few beauty potions. If you got a patent for this, I could start selling it in my shop - it's good, and I'd be willing to take a chance with it - it might very well sell."

Mum was quite astonished, but let me go to the Ministry with Samantha. It took about half an hour to register my patent. I decided to call the potion _Venus_ and handed Samantha my instructions on how to make it.

"I can start making this soon, and start selling them in a week's time," Samantha told me with a smile. "I have no idea how well it will sell though - be prepared to not have many people buy it. After paying for supplies, I'll have to be paid for the time I put into making the potions, as well as selling them and taking liability for it. But I figure you should get twenty percent of the profit, how does that sound?"

"Great," I grinned at her. It was honestly more than I had hoped for! Samantha had no idea how well the potion was going to sell (and it would sell well, if the dream was any indication), and I figured it was all right to take a bit of advantage, knowing that most inventors rarely get a cut that high.

We signed up a contract and shook hands. Samantha floo-ed back to her home and Mum hurried me upstairs. It was ten o'clock... and time for me to go to sleep.

* * *

July 18th, 1990

This morning's headlines shocked the Wizarding World.

Our purported savior, the Boy-who-Lived, was revealed to have been sent to live with his abusive muggle relatives by Albus Dumbledore(the great leader of the Light in the past two wars, a man who held great power in our society)! It was also revealed that Dumbledore had never bothered checking in on the boy, who was then raised without love or any kind of affection by his relatives.

With the Wizarding World in an uproar, an Elder in the Wizengamot, Tiberius Ogden, convened an emergency meeting. Two hours later, a public trial was held.

My mother was quite shocked, she had always assumed that Harry was being taken care of properly, and in hiding from anyone who might want to harm the boy who destroyed Voldemort. She had never pushed to see if she might be able to take him in. Half an hour later, all seven members of my small family were at the trial.

It started simply enough.

First, Rita was called to the stand to confirm the truth of the article she wrote. She didn't tell them who had tipped her off - thankfully - but instead made it appear that she had talked to Petunia alone.

Next, a Ministry employee testified that Harry's Ministry file had been sealed nine years ago by Albus Dumbledore. Several members of the Wizengamot sadly told the court that they had allowed Dumbledore to take their Savior away and place him with a family of his choice because they trusted the man implicitly.

The Dursleys were then ushered to the witness stand and forced to take Veritaserum. They then told the court how much they hated all magic users, and how they had tried their best to "beat" the magic out of the young Harry. The entire court listened in horror as Vernon Dursley happily described how he shut Harry, at age five, in his cupboard for a week because he asked about his parents.

The two Dursleys were sentenced to thirty years in muggle prison with option of parole after five years for Petunia, and fifteen years for Vernon. They would be charmed to not mention anything of the Wizarding World ever again. Petunia was led out of court in handcuffs, looking very pale and terrified. Vernon had to be dragged out of court, still yelling for the "freaks" to let go of them.

Dudley Dursley's testimony had incriminated his parents heavily. He basically told the court that he always received more gifts and affection when he was cruel to his cousin. He was judged to be innocent of any crimes, because of his parents' influence on him. Dudley was sent to live with his father's American cousin Isaac Dursley, who happened to be a squib. Remembering the Dudley I had seen in the dream, I hope that this change in his life would be good for him.

Finally, Albus Dumbledore was brought to the stand, considerably paler than I remembered him from the dream. He spent ten minutes trying to convince the court that they had made a mistake, and that the Dursleys deserved a second chance. He claimed that the blood wards created by Lily Potter's sacrifice for her son were vitally important to Harry's safety, and that he had done everything for the "greater good."

But then a weeping Minerva McGonagall testified sadly that they both knew the character of the Dursleys, but she had never imagined that they would go so far as neglecting and abusing their own nephew. She unhappily told the court that she, too, had trusted Dumbledore's judgement in the matter.

The goblin Nagorak then came to the stand and explained that Dumbledore, although he had been a witness for the signing of the will of James and Lily Potter, had ignored the will completely, and arranged to have it hidden by bribing a human employee at Gringotts(who had died several years ago).

Next, Hubert Ethelwithe, a master curse breaker, told the court that he had inspected the wards around the Dursleys' home, and found them to be practically nonexistent. There was only a very weak blood ward that barely worked to protect Harry, Ethelwithe said, because there was no love between Harry and the Dursleys.

Dumbledore responded by telling them that the others were simply wrong, and that they must trust him in these matters, because he knew best.

Those words were the last straws that broke the camel's back.

Augusta Longbottom, a member of the Wizengamot, cut in quickly. She moved to have Dumbledore removed from his post on the Wizengamot for his actions in deceiving them.

She also moved to have him taken from either his post on the International Confederation of Wizards or at Hogwarts, stating that they had allowed him far too much power for far too long. Mrs. Longbottom ended by moving that Dumbledore pay Harry retribution fees for having given him a childhood filled with misery.

The Wizengamot ruled unanimously to make Dumbledore pay Harry two thousand galleons for nine years of living with the Dursleys. Dumbledore was then legally kicked out of the Wizengamot for his actions in deceiving them. He was also removed from his post in the International Confederation of Wizards because of failing to protect a magical citizen, and instead putting him in serious danger.

Unfortunately (in my opinion), there was no legal reason (currently) to remove him as Headmaster of Hogwarts, so the manipulative old man retained one of his powerful positions.

Dumbledore walked angrily out of the courtroom, and the Wizengamot and the audience watched him go sadly.

Mum leaned over and spoke to Mira and I, explaining the emotional depth of what had happened. Dumbledore, the man that they had all trusted so much, had betrayed their trust in such a way that they doubted they could ever trust him fully again.

* * *

There was a brief pause as the Wizengamot talked together, and then Claudius Dawlish, the former Deputy Head, was sworn in as the new Head of the Wizengamot. Augusta Longbottom was made the new Deputy Head.

But there was one more matter to be decided – the issue of Harry's guardianship. The Potters' will was read again, and Sirius Black and Alice Longbottom were judged unfit guardians.

The next choice was Annie Marchbanks... my mother.

Mum stood up, holding Dad's hand. She didn't look completely surprised, and after a few whispers with Dad, Mum spoke up and agreed to take Harry on as her ward. The Wizengamot agreed, and the guardianship papers were quickly filed legally. Harry was now my brother - well, kind of.

The door opened, and an old woman, who I knew to be Arabella Figg, led a boy over to where we were sitting.

He was small and nervous looking, with broken glasses, wearing dirty, baggy clothes. Then he came closer, and I could see his green eyes.

"Harry," Mum whispered, staring at him.

Harry cautiously walked over to us, and looked at us very hesitantly.

I didn't hesitate, but stood up, jumped off, and hugged him tightly.

"You're going to be my brother," I said joyfully.

Harry stiffened up for a moment, but when I squeezed him tighter and the words sunk in, he relaxed and clung to me as he was drowning and I was a life preserver. When I finally pulled away, I had my first glimpse of a hopeful looking Harry.

The smile he gave me was so pure and innocent that I had no doubt I had done the right thing.

This is what I've been working towards all these months of hard study... Saving innocents... Saving Harry. And I certainly had helped to save him from a life of misery, and brought into a happy home.

I grabbed his hand, and pulled him gently into the seat beside him. Harry obligingly sat down, and I squeezed his hand. He gripped mine tightly and didn't let go.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Not mine!

A/N: Written by me, with an awful lot of help from my friend/fabulous beta Stellata. (She's a fabulous writer, check out her fics!)

* * *

July 19th, 1990 (continued)

* * *

Mr. Dawlish was about to call an end to the trial when someone interrupted him.

"Excuse me, I have a question!" I called out innocently.

"Yes, little girl?" I ignored the condescension in Dawlish's tone, and merely smiled.

"I know Alice Longbottom is in St. Mungos, but why is Sirius Black an unfit guardian?"

Most of the court looked surprised at my question.

"He is in prison, my dear," Mr. Dawlish said sadly.

"Oh! What was he charged with? How long is he in there for?" I feigned curiosity.

There was a silence, then Augusta Longbottom spoke up.

"He murdered thirteen people and was sent straight to Azkaban, for life."

"Oh!" I pretended to be shocked. "Is that what they decided at his trial?"

"Uh, he didn't have a trial," One man mumbled.

"No trial!" My young, high voice rang throughout the courtroom. "Isn't that illegal?"

There was no response.

"What? He didn't have a trial? After all this time?" Mum cried, gripping her skirt tightly. She looked completely horrified, and I suddenly realized that since Mum was best friends with Lily Potter, she would have known Sirius too.

"He was clearly guilty, and didn't need one," one elderly man offered.

"You must've used veritaserum on him, then, to show his guilt?" My mother said hopefully.

There was another awkward silence.

"Well, didn't you?" My mother asked fearfully.

"We knew that he was the Potters' Secret Keeper, and the one who betrayed their location to You-Know-Who, which led to their murder. He came from a very Dark family that supported You-Know-Who, my dear," an elderly lady said condescendingly.

"Well, people don't always turn out just like the people who raised them," I said simply. "Who said he was their Secret Keeper, anyway?"

"Albus Dumbledore," Tiberius Ogden promptly replied, and suddenly, the man clapped his hand over his mouth in horror.

"And you just trusted him, like you trusted him to place Harry with a kind, loving family?" My mother was furious.

Dawlish was turning a pale green color, and the rest of the Wizengamot was steadily paling as well. They were suddenly seeing the gaps in their argument that they had deemed perfectly logical nine years ago.

"So, because some of Sirius Black's family supported Voldemort, and Dumbledore told you that Sirius Black betrayed the Potters, you assumed he was guilty and threw him in Azkaban? Without letting him testify under truth serum? Or even looking at his memories in a pensieve? Hmm?" My mother was practically frothing at the mouth as she fought to keep her voice at a medium pitch. "Did you ever think that Dumbledore just wanted Black out of the way so he couldn't protest Harry's placement with the Dursleys?"

"I move to hold a trial for Sirius Black," Augusta Longbottom said weakly.

"Seconded," Emmeline Vance said softly.

"Why don't we do it now?" My mother said, rather forcefully. "We're all already here."

It was quickly agreed to be the best course of action, and twenty minutes later, Sirius Black was brought into the courtroom. He was thin and dressed in rags, and perfectly filthy. The guards set him in the chair, and everybody drew in a deep breath. Would the magical chair chain him or not?

No chains appeared, and everybody let out their held-in breaths.

"Sirius Black, you are here to -"

"Give me veritaserum!" Sirius Black practically spat at Dawlish. "I'll tell you everything you need to know, if you'll just let me talk."

So they brought out the veritaserum, and Black swallowed it eagerly.

"I didn't betray the Potters," he hissed at the court. "Peter Pettigrew was the Secret Keeper. I went after him, to make him pay, but he got away. He cut off his finger and cast an exploding charm on the gas pipes. He transformed into his animagus form – a rat – and ran away. I was still in shock when the Aurors came. They threw me in Azkaban, where I've been for the last nine years. I've begged for a trial so many times – but nobody ever listened. What did it take, huh? Did you finally find Pettigrew?"

The Wizengamot flinched as a whole several times throughout Black's testimony.

"Which finger is he missing?" An anxious voice called from a few rows behind me. I turned to look, and saw Arthur Weasley, looking very pale.

"Which finger is Pettigrew missing!?" He repeated frantically.

"His right index finger, wasn't it?" An old woman called out, and Mr. Weasley paled even further.

"Give me a minute," he promised ominously, and with a crack, apparated out.

There were two minutes of silence when Mr. Weasley apparated back in, carrying an unconscious rat in his hands.

"Pettigrew!" Black growled, and leapt toward Mr. Weasley, only to be held back by the guards.

"He betrayed Lily and James," Black hissed, still struggling. "He _deserves_ to die!"

"We will take care of this _legally_, Mr. Black," Mr. Dawlish reprimanded. "Do sit down."

"_Legally,_ huh?" Sirius scoffed angrily. "Like you did with me?"

Most of the Wizengamot flushed in embarrassment, but Sirius finally agreed to sit. Peter Pettigrew was turned back into his human form, bound to the chair, and interrogated.

He quickly told the court that he had spied for Voldemort for a year before the Dark Lord was defeated, betrayed the Potters to Voldemort, faked his own death and framed Sirius for it, along with the murders of twelve muggles.

"I move to grant Sirius Black a full pardon," Emmeline Vance called out. "And at least fifteen thousand galleons in retribution fees."

Augusta Longbottom seconded the motion, and the Wizengamot voted unanimously in Sirius' favor.

"Mr. Black, you are free to go," Mr. Dawlish said quietly. "The galleons will be transferred to your vault immediately. The Ministry will be glad to give you your old job back - "

Sirius just sneered at him.

"You think it's just that easy, Dawlish? That I'll just forget the nine years of hell you all sent me to without so much as a second thought? Can you imagine living each day with only your worst memories because the Dementors have sucked every last happy thought from you? You condemned me to that tortured existence – I would never work for your Ministry, no matter what you offered to pay me!

"One last thing before I go," Sirius said coldly, staring at Dawlish, who was practically shaking. "Where is my godson? Where is Harry?"

"Mr. Black, may we talk about Harry outside?" My mother said calmly as she stood up. Sirius looked at her in surprise.

"Annie, you... All right." He walked out the door, and I followed him, still holding Harry's hand, the rest of my family behind me.

"Did you raise him?" Sirius asked raggedly as soon as the door closed behind him. He stared at Harry almost hungrily, and Harry stepped back instinctively and held my hand a little more tightly: Sirius did look rather frightening.

"I'm afraid not, but we are his guardians now," my mother said firmly. "Sirius, come home with us – we'll fix you a proper meal, get you a bath and some proper clothes, and we can talk about everything you missed."

Sirius nodded, and we walked in silence to the fireplace to floo home.

Two hours later, Sirius had bathed, dressed in an outfit of my Dad's, and eaten over half of the food in the house. He was already starting to look much better, and Mira and Harry weren't as frightened of him anymore.

He listened as we explained Harry's childhood to him, expressions of rage and hate for the Dursleys and Dumbledore flickering across his face. When we told him how we had been awarded guardianship today, Sirius visibly tensed, and then relaxed.

"I won't try and take him from you, Anne," he finally said quietly. "Merlin knows you'd do a better job than me. But..."

"You can visit as often as Harry likes," My mum promised with a smile. "What do you think, Harry?"

"Yeah," Harry said softly. "Will you tell me about my parents?"

"Of course," Sirius barked suddenly. "I'll tell everything there is to know about James. He was my best friend! Annie could probably tell you more about your mother than I could, though. They were real close."

Sirius and my mum exchanged understanding glances that spoke of a great sadness.

"You knew my mum?" Harry asked eagerly.

"We were like sisters," My mum said fondly. "There was one time in third year when we snuck out to the Great Lake at midnight to perform this ritual Lily had read about..."

That evening, we settled in for a large family dinner. I brewed two nourishment potions for Harry and Sirius to drink before dinner, knowing that it would help them gain some weight. Sirius was emaciated from years in prison, and Harry was very skinny because of how malnourished life with the Dursleys had made him.

At dinner, we all took turns telling Sirius and Harry about our lives. Dad talked about his work as a Hitwizard, and Mum gushed about her work at the Ministry's Department of Experimental Charms, where she researched and came up with new spells.

Tomas flushed slightly as Mum bragged about his nine O.W.L.s and his position of Head Boy in the upcoming year – he had gotten his badge a few days ago in the mail. Dad then bragged of Nathan's Quidditch exploits as a Chaser for Hufflepuff. They also talked about Cody's accomplishments in transfiguration, and Mira's artistic talent.

Then it was time for them to brag about me. I blushed appropriately as they talked of my brilliance, and told Sirius and Harry about how I had captured Barty Crouch and received an Order of Merlin, 3rd Class. When Mum mentioned that I was the one to enquire about Sirius, and therefore instigated his trial, Sirius grabbed me in a crushing hug.

"Thank Merlin for you, Lisa," He grinned at me widely. "I can't thank you enough."

"You don't have to," I said, flushing genuinely. "Delicious lasagna, mum."

The subject was then turned to everyone's gratitude for my mum's cooking, although my Dad quickly turned it back towards me.

"Lisa's a great inventor," he said proudly between bites of salad.

"Really?" Sirius asked curiously. "What have you made, Lisa?"

"Just potions, so far. The first one is a potion for hair care – it makes anyone's hair easy to mold – straight, wavy, or curly, and rather shiny, and healthy. I've gotten a patent with the Ministry for it, and mum's friend Samantha's going to sell some at her shop," I told him with a smile. Sirius looked surprised.

"So it really works? That's impressive."

After dinner, Mum suggested that Sirius spend the night, so he took Tomas' room while Tomas bunked with Nathan. I suggested that Harry move into the attic with me.

"It's really very large," I promised Harry. "There's already an extra bed there and everything."

So my new brother became my roommate. He was still rather shy, but I hoped with time and affection, he would open up more.

Before we went to bed, I gave Harry another fierce hug.

"I'm glad you're my new brother," I told him simply, and went to bed to write in my journal, leaving him to contemplate my words.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Yes, this is an OC-centric story. If that's not your thing, that's fine. Lisa is ambitious and smart, but she's definitely going to make mistakes.

Disclaimer: These characters are totally not mine - they belong to JK Rowling.

A/N: There is mentioned romance between Remus & Sirius, but it will always be in the background (similar to the Remus & Tonks relationship of the books) of this story.

* * *

July 24th, 1990

This morning I went to Diagon Alley with my parents, Sirius, and Harry. Our first stop was Ollivander's - Sirius did need a new wand, after all.

It didn't take long for him to find a well-matched wand. It was twelve inches, rowan wood with unicorn hair, and remarkably unbending.

"Please can I get a wand, mum, dad? I just want to try it once, then you can lock it up until Hogwarts!" I pleaded.

They looked at each other, and shrugged.

"I don't see why not... But we will be locking it up until its legal," Mum said firmly.

"Harry should get one too!" I exclaimed.

I squeezed his hand, and Harry grinned at me.

"Please, Annie?" He asked politely, his excitement barely hidden. He hadn't called them Mum or Dad yet, and I wondered how long it would take for him to do so.

"It would only be fair," Dad agreed.

"You can go first," I told Harry.

"Thanks," he whispered, and turned to Ollivander, who already had a box out and was offering Harry a wand.

After about twelve attempts with different wands, Ollivander stopped.

"I wonder..."

It was just as I'd remembered it in the dream! He went to get the holly and phoenix feather wand, and sure enough, it worked for Harry.

There was nothing sweeter than Harry's look of joy when he realized it was the wand for him.

"Curious, very curious..." Ollivander said softly.

"What?" Sirius asked sharply.

"The phoenix who gave me that feather only gave one other... Your brother wand... Gave you that scar." He pointed a bony finger up to point at Harry.

I grasped Harry's hand as he stepped back and away from Ollivander.

"So what does that mean?" I asked immediately, while the others looked shocked.

"That the cores are from the same creature," Ollivander tried to clarify.

"I mean, what would the consequences be?"

Ollivander gave me a piercing glance, and I automatically reinforced my occlumency shields, but he didn't try to enter my mind.

"I do not know... Although that would merit some research..."

"So, was Voldemort's wand destroyed when he was? What happened to it?"

Harry's grip on my hand tightened. It was only last night that the history of Voldemort, and his influence in Harry's life, was explained. It was all fresh in his mind.

"The wand seemed to have simply been destroyed... But nobody knows for sure," Ollivander ended ominously.

"All right," I said, ignoring the shiver that went down my back at that thought. "So how about my wand, then?"

Then came the part that took hours. Hours, and hours, and hours.

Part-way through my quest to find the right wand, Dad left to go shopping for groceries in London. It had only been a couple days since our last shop, but what can I say? Emaciated ex-convicts living in your home really decimated your food supply.

I was getting very frustrated... and sweaty - it was hot in the wand shop.

"This is ridiculous," I finally snapped at Ollivander. "Don't you have another method besides hanging me random ones?"

He didn't lose his calm gaze, and instead strode to the cabinet from which he had taken Harry's wand.

"I wonder..."

I groaned. Just like Harry, I just _had_ to have a special wand. Ollivander offered me a wand, and I took it.

Immediately, I felt a sudden rush.

_This one felt perfect!_

A tiny wave, and my magic surged out through it, filling the room with golden sparkles. It was so much easier than wandless magic, I realized with surprise.

Mum and Sirius began to clap.

"Wow," Harry said, quite impressed.

"Ten and a half inches. Blackthorn, dragon heartstring. Springy." Mr. Ollivander stared at me. "I would not have expected..."

"What?" I demanded, tired of Ollivander letting his sentences trail off...

"This wand is the oldest wand I have in my shop - it has not been matched or sold since it was given back to us after the death of its first and only owner... Rowena Ravenclaw."

I could see Mum gasping, and Sirius' eyes bugging out. Harry looked curious - we hadn't told him much about the Houses, or the Founders of Hogwarts yet.

I just smiled at Ollivander.

"So if it's second-hand, does that mean its cheaper?"

* * *

With the new wands safely tucked in Mum's purse, we left Ollivander's and headed to Gringotts. My parents needed to get some more money out - they had spent the cash they had on the wands - and on the groceries. Dad met us at the gates, and remarked that he had dropped the groceries off at home.

"If I'm staying with you, then I should be paying rent," Sirius declared.

"No, that's really not necessary!" Mum insisted.

I left them to argue, and pulled Harry along with me to find Arnuk, my Gringotts account manager.

"Miss Turpin," he nodded when he saw me.

"Hello Arnuk!" I said cheerfully. "Just wanted to see how my investments are going."

He snapped his fingers, and several sheets of paper appeared in his hands.

"It has only been ten days since you were here, Miss Turpin. You invested one hundred and forty galleons in these five companies..." He blinked as he stared at the papers.

I plucked them from his fingers and glanced at them. I quickly totaled up the current values, and realized it was at two hundred and fifty galleons already - an increase of one hundred and ten galleons.

I touched my pin, and remembered the set of memories I had organized as investment-related. In her summer after her fifth year, Hermione had decided to study several exciting things that were magic related, as well as a few mundane things... economics included. In her hurry to finish the dream, she had included much more than Harry needed to know - but these were things that I appreciated knowing.

Hermione had looked at the history of magical stocks... And while she had only glanced at the pages for a few moments, it was enough to have stuck in my head.

I recalled the exact dates that my investments would begin to fall - none would do so dramatically until September. But I had chosen these particular ones because I remember they all rose exceptionally high from July 14th to July 21st... I asked Arnuk to sell out my shares. Some of that money would be used to purchase stocks in the Nimbus company, which would be making double gains in the next month - and one hundred and eighty galleons I withdrew.

Arnuk promised to do so, and with a thank you and a goodbye, Harry and I left to find the grown-ups.

Sirius had convinced Mum and Dad to let him pay rent - and to pay them back for groceries.

"All right," Dad sighed, shaking his head. We all knew that Sirius was fabulously wealthy and wanted to help as much as he could, but neither of my parents wanted charity.

We all headed off to see Nagorak, the Potter account manager. Mum and Dad edited their will in regards to Harry, their adoptive son. Sirius was made his godfather - just as he had been for the past ten years - and also, the first choice of guardian for Harry.

That business done, we left to go say hello to Samantha Green, who was in her potions shop.

"I've been selling the potion for five days now," Samantha told me seriously. "I've advertised on the window front, but hardly anyone has bought it. I'm sorry, Lisa... It was a good idea, but I don't see it being profitable. I'll have to cut my losses and stop producing it."

"Are you sure?" I felt a little angry. She really hadn't given it enough time...

"It's not working for business," Samantha shrugged. So she brought out the contract and we burnt it up. We agreed she could keep the ones she had produced and not sold, as long as she never tried to sell them again.

"I understand," I shrugged.

"That's too bad," Harry frowned.

"She wasn't willing to stick with it," I told him stubbornly. "It takes more than just initial investment - it takes patience and determination if you want to make a profit."

"Okay," Harry agreed.

"I need my own business," I declared.

Sirius was nearby, and he quirked up his eyebrows.

"Whoa, aren't you a bit young..."

"Remember who got you out of prison?" I asked him.

"I suppose," he grinned at me.

"I made two new inventions last night. They're basically wizarding shampoo and conditioner," I informed him, tossing my hair. "There are so few wizarding cosmetics, beauty products - do you have any idea how well these would sell? They're infinitely better than the cleaning charms most witches and wizards use."

"Well, what do you need?" Sirius asked, sounding interested. "I do owe you, Lisa..."

"I need a shop, and then I need a manager, and a shopgirl. I can make the potions..." I declared.

Mum and Dad went home - they had things to do - but Harry and I stayed in Diagon Alley with Sirius for a while longer.

* * *

We checked out the real estate, and after some searching, Sirius bought the empty place of Number 97 Diagon Alley.

It had a medium sized shop front, with a large back room for storage, a large basement, and a five room flat upstairs. (It had cost one hundred seventy galleons and ten sickles in total.)

The only problem was the way it looked...

"Watch this," Sirius said dramatically. He took out his wand, and with a flourish, began to cast cleaning charms left and right. Within ten minutes, the entire house was sparkling clean. We found some paint in the basement, and in large blue letters, we painted the sign out front to read _Belle's._

"What does that mean?" Harry asked as we were finishing.

"Belle is the french word for beauty, but it's also a name," I told him.

"That's right, and what better name for a beauty store?" Sirius grinned. It took him about fifteen more minutes, but he placed sufficient wards on the property.

"It's going to be wonderful," I declared.

"Sirius?" A low, wondering voice said from behind us.

We turned and saw someone who I recognized instantly.

"Remus?" Sirius said shakily.

Harry glanced at me, remembering some of the stories Sirius had told yesterday, about the adventures James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter had got up to at Hogwarts. Yes, it was definitely Remus Lupin as I remembered from my dream - just a little younger, but still too thin and wearing tattered clothes.

"I... read the paper." Remus stumbled over his words. "I wasn't sure..."

"If you'd be welcome?" Sirius said harshly.

Remus visibly crumpled.

"I didn't think so," he said quietly. "I'm... I'm so sorry, Sirius."

It was easy to hear the heartbreak and sincerity in his voice.

"I know," Sirius said, and Harry and I were both surprised to hear his voice crack. "I know you are. But it doesn't change... You didn't believe in me, Remus."

"It seemed so sure," Remus said, tears leaking from his eyes. "Everyone told me..."

"But you never asked me!" Sirius barked. "You never visited, not once."

I felt awkward witnessing this moment, and I knew Harry did too. But at the same time, we were mesmerized. People rarely showed such deep emotions in every day conversation - but the past few days had shown us that some things couldn't be hidden any more.

"I tried... so many times... I went to the island, but I could never bring myself to see you," Remus said tearfully. "I believed them, Sirius. It didn't make sense, but I was so alone."

"And so was I," Sirius hissed, stepping closer to him. They stood under the sign of the new shop, leaning towards each other. "So terribly alone without you."

"I might as well have been in prison myself - I thought it was my fault," Remus whispered. "I swore up and down that it was my fault - that I had caused you to turn..."

"Oh, Remus," Sirius murmured.

"It was hell," Remus said, sounding utterly broken. "Without you - I never opened up to anyone again. Never loved... Never let myself, after you."

"Oh," I breathed. A whole new light shone on the events of my dream, on everything I knew of Remus and Sirius. Harry looked very surprised as I grabbed his hand and walked away from the reuniting couple.

"Never stopped hoping," Sirius said, his voice breaking.

"Never stopped loving you," Remus gasped. "I couldn't face you like that, believing what you did but not caring. I felt so terrible, loving someone everyone believed to be a murderer..."

"Remus," Sirius gasped, and he pulled the other man to him.

Harry and I glanced back to watch them embrace, then quickly looked away and went to the ice cream shop across the way.

I plunked down a few knuts and we both got cones - Harry had chocolate and I had strawberry.

We ate in silence until Harry broke it.

"I hope they work things out."

I smiled at him. He was just the nicest boy, I was discovering. My intervention in his life hadn't changed his personality so much from what it was like in the beginning of his dream.

"I hope they do too."


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Yes, this is an OC-centric story. If that's not your thing, that's fine. Lisa is ambitious and smart, but she's definitely going to make mistakes.

Disclaimer: These characters are totally not mine - they belong to JK Rowling.

* * *

July 25th, 1990

Yesterday... Harry and I had just finished our ice cream, and I was explaining to him about the houses in Hogwarts.

"They all have their merits," I told him. "And their weaknesses. Harry... just don't tell anyone that I have Ravenclaw's wand, will you?"

"Sure," he agreed. "What houses are your brothers in?"

"Cody and Tomas are in Ravenclaw, and Nathan's in Hufflepuff."

"Hey."

We looked up to see Sirius and Remus standing there.

"Kids, this is Remus Lupin. He's an old friend of mine."

"So we've heard," I said, watching Remus watch Harry. My adoptive brother twitched a little under the intensity of his gaze.

"You look just like your father," Remus spoke softly. "But you have your mother's eyes, Harry."

"Thanks?" Harry said shyly.

Sirius nudged Remus, and he started a bit before looking at me.

"You must be Lisa," he smiled at me.

"That I am," I smiled back. "Good to meet you at last, Remus. Join us for dinner."

Remus looked surprised, and glanced at Sirius.

"We should be getting back if we want to make it in time," I said smoothly.

Sirius grinned, and we all reached out to touch him so he could Side-Along us back home.

"I - I didn't say - are you sure," Remus began, flustered, obviously nervous about showing up uninvited...

"Remus!" My mum glimpsed him through the window - we were standing in the backyard - and waved. "What a pleasant surprise! You'll be staying for dinner."

Remus closed his mouth and smiled in amusement.

"Apparently I will be." He looked at me and shook his head. "You Turpin witches... so demanding."

"Better believe it," I grinned.

* * *

Dinner was delicious, and the company was delightful. Afterwards, as we sat in the living room, one thing did intrigue me... For all the tales of Remus' intelligence and skills, he rarely had a job.

"Why is that?" I asked him.

"Not many people are willing to hire someone like me..." He began.

"Oh, you mean because you're a werewolf?" I asked, suddenly realizing what he meant.

Harry started, as did Remus and Sirius. The others were out of the room.

"How did you know?" Remus frowned.

I racked my brain quickly, trying to come up with a plausible excuse. Neither Sirius nor my parents had ever actually told me that... So I needed something to say.

"Sometimes I just know things," I shrugged.

"Meaning?" Remus said sharply.

"I can sense things about people - about the past, or about the future," I said as sincerely as I could. I was certainly no prophet, but what other excuse could I offer them?

"You're a Seer..." Remus looked intrigued.

"Fascinating," Sirius said, his eyes sparkling. "Is that how your stocks have been doing so well?"

I blushed.

"Maybe..."

Remus looked scandalized.

"You're using magic to..."

"Lisa deserves it," Harry cut in. "And its not like she's trying to cheat or anything - its a natural talent. People who are naturally fast win at races - what's the difference? Shouldn't she be allowed to use her own talents to her advantage?"

Remus looked thoughtful.

"I see what you mean."

"I foresee you getting a job very soon," I told Remus. "A job that would suit your skills... And reward you well for them."

"Really?" His eyes widened.

I glanced at Sirius and smiled. It took a moment, and then he was grinning right back.

"We do need a manager..."

We explained our new venture to Remus, and at first he tried to protest, but we convinced him in the end.

By the next day (this morning!), we had found all the workers we needed.

I flooed over to my Aunt christine's house in Hogsmeade, where I found my cousin Sydney. She had just graduated from Hogwarts last year, and was having trouble finding work. I knew Sydney was talented at Astronomy... but not many other subjects.

Sydney is one of those people who loves three things more than anything else: gossiping, flirting, and fashion. Despite this, I knew that she was a hard worker... So I offered her work at _Belle_ as a sales girl.

"A beauty shop? Fabulous!" Sydney practically danced on the spot. "Of course I want to work there!"

Remus had recommended a few people to work as brewers. Their names were Miranda and Darryl Humphrey - a couple in their thirties who Remus had brewed with before. Miranda, just like Remus, had trouble finding jobs because she was a werewolf. Sirius interviewed them, and after pronouncing them satisfactory, took them to Gringotts to draw up a contract. Remus and Sydney also signed contracts, and got to work on choosing how to decorate the store.

Miranda and Darryl were glad to have work, and as soon as they'd signed the contracts, I showed them the recipes, swore them to secrecy, and they began brewing. We transformed the basement of the shop into a large, comfortable potions lab.

* * *

August 6th, 1990

On July 29th, _Belle _opened to the public. Besides my original product, the hair gel that I've named _Venus_, we also have several lines of other products. _Caress_ is the line of shampoo and conditioner, that comes in different scents, _Sparkle_ - a line of magical nail polish, _Desire_ - a line of scented lotions that is good for the skin, and _Fancy_, my line of magical hair dyes.

We began running advertisements for the shop in the Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and even the Quibbler - on July 26th... It certainly paid off.

On our first day of business, the store was crowded the entire day, from nine to five... When Remus and Sirius got home to dinner, they were exhausted but quite happy.

After three days of business, with sales rising each day, we had broken even. All of our costs had been paid for...

"Did you foresee this?" Sirius asked me with a laugh as he pulled me into a bear hug.

"Not entirely," I gasped. "Sirius - can't - breathe..."

We had a monopoly on the wizarding beauty industry... Sirius owned the store, but gave me half the profit, as I was the brainchild of the entire venture. I continued to invest my personal earnings, knowing that I would make even more galleons in the process.

While the business was starting up, I only came in an hour a day, to make sure Miranda and Darryl were having no problems with the potions. They were truly fine workers, very efficient, and were paid very well for their work.

* * *

On the 27th, Sirius had moved out of our home and into the two-bedroom flat above the shop. The very next day, I witnessed Remus moving his things into the flat as well, and gave him a wink.

He looked at me, remembering that Harry and I had seen his reunion with Sirius - so the fact that they were moving in together was not at all surprising to us. Remus sheepishly grinned.

Despite Sirius' move out, he and Remus came by every day for dinner. Harry loved their company, especially when they told him stories about James, and the fun that the Marauders - as they called themselves - had at Hogwarts.

Indeed, Harry was opening up.

* * *

Harry spent the first few days in our home trying to cook and clean the house. After being firmly told by both Mum and Dad plenty of times to stop working and go have fun, Harry eventually got the message.

I spent many hours introducing him to my favorite games. I still beat him at poker every time, but he's just as good as me at Exploding Snap, which I've been playing for years. Neither of us are very good at chess – Mira beats us both – but we can both beat her socks off at Gobstones, so it's all right.

Spending time with Harry and encouraging him to be a kid has made me realize that I'm not an adult yet. I do love having fun, going flying, and playing ridiculous card games. I haven't given up on my plan yet, but some parts of it are currently on the back-burner.

Despite years of neglect, Harry is one of the kindest people I know. He's shy, but enjoys the smallest things about his new life. He's very polite with adults, but now is very carefree around Mira and I. After many years spent starving for affection, Harry was originally astonished by the love my family showed him. I hug him whenever possible, as does Mira. Mum has taken to coming up to see us before we go to bed, and giving us both warm hugs and kisses on the cheek. Harry has taken to await bedtime eagerly – it's easy to see that he loves having a mother.

My relationship with Harry is very different than the ones I have with my older brothers. Tomas, as the oldest, has always been the kindest to me, teaching me how to swim and write my numbers for the first time. Nathan, the middle older brother, is similarly like a teacher – only he teaches vastly different subjects than Tomas – I learned my first swear words at the age of four because of him. Cody is only two years older than me, and we were always closest. He, Mira, and I were inseparable growing up, always playing together and pulling pranks on Nathan and Tomas.

Harry spends so much of his time doing what I do, that it's easy to see us being twins. But I feel so protective of him that he usually feels like a younger sibling to me, like Mira. There's so much that I've been teaching him – not just about magic, but about life. Most of it is just letting him follow my example – how to talk to Mum and Dad, and how far to push an argument with an annoying older brother.

He soaks my words up like a sponge. But even as he tries to follow me in everything, I push him to be his own person. After a few days of me drilling Potions basics into his head, Harry had his own suggestions for my inventions. (By the way, he's an excellent assistant; he's better at slicing and dicing than me, probably because of being forced to cook for so many years.)

Emotionally, Harry's doing much better. Some of this has to do with my legilimency. (Yes, I read his mind.) I gently faded his memories of the abuse the Dursleys gave to him, and had his best memories (mostly the recent ones) stay at the top of his conscious and subconscious.

On July 30th, we threw Harry a surprise birthday party, a day before his birthday, to make it more of a surprise. All of the family was there, along with Sirius and Remus.

Harry was stunned when I led him into the living room and everybody jumped out, shouting Happy Birthday. He looked almost like he was going to cry, but instead just grinned happily. We all played party games, ate Mum's homemade pizza and Dad's chocolate cake, and roasted marshmallows over an open fire.

We all got Harry the best presents we could. Mum and Dad gave him a lovely black silk cloak, a large box of candy, and a book on magical creatures. Tomas, Nathan and Cody all chipped in to get Harry his own Wizarding Chess set, and Mira bought him the book _Quidditch Through the Ages. _

Sirius, Remus, and Mum gave Harry a large photo album of their school years – which had many pictures of his mum and dad, and James' old Invisibility Cloak, which they had somehow gotten away from Dumbledore. Then it was time to open my present.

"Didn't you get Harry a present?" Cody asked me in astonishment when he realized there was nothing left on the pile.

"Yep," I said brightly, and pulled it out from under the couch. The box I gave to Harry was long and thin, and could only contain one thing...

"No way..." Nathan whispered.

"It isn't..." Cody murmured.

"My own broomstick?" Harry said quietly, as he unwrapped it. He stroked it gently, then looked up at me with awe in his eyes.

"Thank you," he said, and he leaned to give me a hug. I hugged him tightly.

"That's a Nimbus Two Thousand," Nathan groaned. "The best broom on the market..."

"You all already have brooms, but Harry didn't," Dad reminded him.

Harry finally pulled back and looking at me with shining eyes before looking at everyone else.

"This is the best birthday I've ever had," he said quietly and sincerely. "Thank you all so much for this."

And like that, we knew it wasn't about the gifts - it was about the love we were showing him by celebrating the day he was born. Harry had never had anyone celebrate his birthday before - or at least not since he was a baby...

Harry truly knew how much we cared for him - and he was glad to be a part of our family.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: Yes, this is an OC-centric story. If that's not your thing, that's fine. Lisa is ambitious and smart, but she's definitely going to make mistakes.

Disclaimer: These characters are totally not mine - they belong to JK Rowling.

* * *

August 29th, 1990

As of today, _Belle_ has been in business for exactly a month.. It has already become the most crowded store on Diagon Alley. Every witch in Britain wants their own bottle of _Venus_ or_ Caress _or_ Desire _– and most often, every product westock.

After we''ve paid for the ingredients, the shop's upkeep, and the workers' pay, we've had a nice bit of profit - several thousand galleons. A significant portion of that has gone directly into my bank account. I've been visiting Gringotts every couple of days to update my investments in order to make the most profit.

Because of the overflow of customers at _Belle_, Remus has had to hire more workers. Miranda and Darryl now have five part-time brewers to work under them, and Sydney and Agatha have another part time worker (a young lady named Sasha Douglas). (Lawrence Cobb is a middle-aged werewolf down on his luck, Tiana Mint, a bright-eyed young Hogwarts graduate, Bernard Gibbs is a widower in his sixties who is a talented brewer but very poor, Joshua Matthews is a young man working on his Mastery in Potions who needs a part-time job, and Joan Dobbs is a woman in her twenties who my mum knew was in need of a job, and had a NEWT in Potions.)

Of course, I knew we'd need more space with all the new employees, and planned accordingly. It didn't take me very long to convince the junk shop owner next door to let me buy his building for two hundred galleons. He waltzed off happily, money jingling in his pocket, and we moved in.

Now _Belle_ encompasses both Number 97 and Number 95 on Diagon Alley. It was a simple matter for Sirius and Remus to extend the wards, and connect the two buildings properly by clearing away some of the walls. The two buildings are completely connected now. Only one of the entrances leads directly to the shop, so there is only one large shop front, and one large back-room. The basement was similarly expanded, and now has plenty of room for at least a dozen brewers to work in tandem at any given moment.

Because of the size of the basement, I came up with a plan, and a construction project for the adults. Using chalk, I marked off a line that would cut about a sixth of the entire basement from the rest of it. Next, I had them summon large stones from the quarry near our home, to lie along the line.

Sirius and Remus reformed the stones so that they became thick walls. Into the wall, they put a sturdy, lockable door made of metal. Once we made sure there were no cracks, it was soundproof and well-warded, it was finished.

"For when you transform," I told Remus and Miranda simply.

"It'll work, I think," Remus said decisively. "We can always put a wall between us so we can't hurt each other."

"It's very thoughtful of you," Miranda smiled at me sadly. "Think you can put your inventive mind to making a cure for lycanthropy instead of just beauty potions?"

It was a gentle tease, but I suddenly realized something.

"I've been working on it," I said seriously. "I've been trying to make one before the full moon – it may not be a full cure, but it could help."

As I walked up the stairs, they were all silent. I knew Miranda and Remus were probably shocked, but hopeful. Until Miranda had mentioned it, I had forgotten... In the dream, the Wolfsbane Potion was a 'recent' invention in Harry's third year at Hogwarts.

* * *

Taking out my wand, I glamoured myself. (Note – I _had_ been using my wand, and helping Harry learn how to use his – because the Ministry didn't track underage magic by wand usage, but by _where_ the magic came from. Basically, it was just another prejudiced rule that would punish muggleborns for using magic in non magic areas, while kids with wizarding parents could practice magic undetected, under the guise that their parents were the ones performing the magic. Every bit of magic I did was much more powerful when channeled through my wand. Most of my spells were a lot easier to perform with my wand, although I still practiced my wandless magic.)

I then flooed to the Ministry and checked out the patent office. Nope, Damocles had not yet created the Wolfsbane Potion. But I would be making it soon...

Going back home to my potions lab in my trunk, I thought over the Wolfsbane potion that I'd seen in my dream. Hermione had seen Snape brew it once, so I had a good memory of what the ingredients looked and smelled like, as well as the routine.

I love my lab - it has quickly become my favorite place when I need alone time. I had my shelves of ingredients, my journals full of notes on the potions I've created, and the best books on Potions that money could buy. In one corner I have a batch of truth serum simmering - it takes a full week before its done.

Standing over my central cauldron, I worked for several hours, trying different possibilities for the ingredients that I wasn't certain of. Finally, at just past eight o'clock, I tried another combination – and it worked.

It looked and smelled exactly like the Wolfsbane Potion in the dream. I did a victory dance, then started brewing another three batches of the potion, and wrote out the instructions for the potion very carefully.

Downstairs, the family was in the middle of dinner. (They'd learned weeks ago not to interrupt me while I was inventing, and had started without me.)

"Anything new, honey?" My mum asked as she began filling a plate for me.

"Oh, I think I invented a potion that will help Remus with his transformation – keeping his human mind while he's a wolf, so he won't hurt people," I said calmly. Only Harry choked on his milk; everyone else had learned to swallow before listening to me talk about my inventions.

"If you did, that would be incredible," Dad said softly.

Right before writing this (it is two in the morning now!), the potions finished brewing, so I flooed to the shop and gave a vial of Wolfsbane Potion to Remus, Miranda, and Lawrence, who will all be transforming tomorrow.

* * *

September 6th, 1990

The Wolfsbane Potion worked perfectly!

Remus, Miranda, and Lawrence were incredibly thankful for the potion, and told me that they were able to keep their consciousness perfectly, despite the transformation. There had been no pain when they transformed, and kept their minds entirely, rendering them as harmless as puppies.

It would take a bit more evidence to receive a patent for the Wolfsbane Potion from the Ministry, so I took Remus, Miranda, and Lawrence with me to the Ministry. They showed their pensieve memories of the night before and told their stories under veritaserum.

The young clerk in charge of documenting the patent watched the procedure with wide eyes.

"I think I should get my boss," she demurred before carrying out the final steps.

In the end, Remus and I met with several of the higher-up officials, some of whom seemed to think the potion was sketchy... But in the end, we made it through.

"Miss Turpin!"

My heart raced as I realized they had brought the Minister by. No, I didn't particularly like him or his brand of politics, but I was excited to know what this could mean...

"We've had our Potions experts test your potion, and given the evidence you've produced, we have decided to let you take out your patent."

"Thank you, Minister," I said as politely as I could.

He beamed down at me.

"I've heard you're the brains behind _Belle_. My wife loves that stuff, let me tell you. She just won't stop talking about those cosmetic thingys... Are you going to sell this, my dear, because you would have a monopoly on it, are you aware?"

"We will be selling it at _Belle_," I told him, glancing up at the Aurors who were watching me rather closely, I thought uncomfortably. "But I will also make the potion's recipe available to the public."

"Really?" Fudge's eyes widened comically.

"While we will be charging only what each individual can pay for the potion," I informed him, "We should leave the option open to people who would like to brew their own."

"Making werewolves nearly harmless, if caged..." the Minister mused. "This is groundbreaking, Lisa, you know that? The Ministry would like to acknowledge that..."

He reached into his pocket, and my heart thudded.

* * *

My mother carefully touched the award, her eyes wide.

"Oh, Lisa," she sighed.

"What do you think?" I asked nervously. She hadn't said anything else...

"I think I've never been prouder," she declared, looking at me with tears in her eyes. "An Order of Merlin, 1st Class... Lisa, this is incredible."

As she took me into her arms and I squeezed her back, I had a feeling that I could fuel a hundred Patroni with this memory.

* * *

This morning, everyone with a Daily Prophet knows what happened last night. (I may have carried a certain beetle in my bag with me to the Ministry yesterday... Then given Rita an interview later that night...)

_WOLFSBANE POTION WILL KEEP WEREWOLVES LUCID AND HARMLESS. Available at Belle et la Bete, 97 Diagon Alley. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH INVENTOR, PAGE 2._

The article praised my new invention, and talked about the effect Wolfsbane would have on the world(a positive one, obviously). It also mentioned the Ministry's reaction to my patent - including the fact that I had been given an Order of Merlin, 1st class, for my 'important work for wizarding kind'.

In the exclusive interview with the inventor, Rita outlined my thoughts on werewolf rights care.

In summary, this is about what I said... If werewolves were registered, they could all show up to take their Wolfsbane potions the morning of the full moon. That afternoon, they would all be escorted to secure areas to spend the night, and leave the next day. In the event that a werewolf did not show up to take the potion, the Ministry would search for them and bring them in to take the potion. Also, other than this law on werewolves, they should be treated as regular citizens, who work regular jobs and have normal relationships and children. After all, with the potion, they will be their ordinary selves, just with a wolf's body.

My ideas were included in Rita's article, and praised for their simplicity and the understanding it showed toward werewolves. The article also included a "true story," about Remus, although he wasn't mentioned by name, who had been bitten by the outlaw Fenrir Greyback when he was only five years old – showing that werewolves didn't have a choice in becoming what they were. Rita said that I had been determined to find something to help my good friend's condition, and had worked tirelessly until I had found it.

That evening, a horde of owls flocked to our house. The wards got rid of the few unsavory letters, and then I sat down to read a lot of thank you notes from werewolves and ordinary wizards and witches as well. I compiled a list of all the werewolves I knew about, and had Remus send out quick letters telling them to come by _Belle et la Bete_ the week before the next full moon to buy some Wolfsbane Potion.

Yes, I've changed the name of the store slightly - now it means _Beauty and the Beast. _

I thought it seemed appropriate.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Yes, this is an OC-centric story. If that's not your thing, that's fine.

Disclaimer: These characters are totally not mine - they belong to JK Rowling.

* * *

September 15th, 1990

Several days ago, I was heading upstairs to brew potions with Harry when I heard Mira in the kitchen, asking mum if she could go over to the Lovegoods' house to play with her friend Luna.

I was halfway up the stairs when her words registered in my mind, and one moment of the dream leapt to my mind. A feeling of dread swept through my body.

_September 8__th__ 1990. I'll always remember that day, Hermione._

The memory of Luna's words struck me harshly. That was the day Mrs. Lovegood died.

I rushed to my mum and asked her if Harry and I could go as well. Luna and Harry had never met before, after all, and I rather thought they would hit it off, and told Mum as much.

A few minutes later, the three of us had flooed over to the Lovegoods' house. Luna welcomed us happily, and the four of us headed outside. I chatted with Harry about potions ideas while we all braided daisies into crowns, and then Mrs. Lovegood called excitedly for us to come see something she had done.

The others walked slowly towards where she had called from (she was in her 'inventing shed'), but I ran ahead of them, pretending to be excited, but inwardly terrified.

Today was the day, I knew it…

I ran through the doorway, and spotted Mrs. Lovegood leaning over a bowl filled with a silver liquid.

"I'm using it to See things," she told me happily, tracing a finger through it. "It's been showing me some quite interesting things..."

I watched as the surface rippled, and a forest came into focus. The view changed quickly, making it seem like the perspective of someone running along the ground. Then, it showed a shadow, moving along the ground – a black shadow, that made the hair on my arms stand up. The shadow seemed to turn, and I heard a dull roar in my ears – I leapt towards Mrs. Lovegood, pushing her to the ground, as the surface exploded and the room was filled with shards of hot silver chunks.

The pieces began falling onto my back, and it hurt – the air was filled with someone's shrieks – was that me? - and then everything began to fade away into nothingness...

* * *

When I woke up, I was in a foreign bed. And I couldn't see a thing. All I could feel was a small hand in my own right one.

"Darling!" I heard my mum's voice. "She's waking up."

"Hey," I spoke, then realized it was somewhat of a croak.

I heard several people starting to talk at once - there was Mira's voice, and both of my parents, and Luna - and my older brothers?

"Shouldn't you boys be in school?" I rasped.

I heard Cody's delighted laugh, then felt him reaching to take my left hand.

"We wanted to see you," Nathan said kindly.

"Couldn't stay away," Tomas added, his voice loud in the way I knew he got when he was tearing up.

"I couldn't focus on any classes, knowing you were here," Cody added quietly.

I smiled brilliantly.

"You were very brave, honey," My mum said, her voice choked.

"You saved my life." That was Mrs. Lovegood, sounding relieved, and not a little bit guilty. "The bowl would have exploded right into my face if you hadn't pushed me away from it."

"Well, I'm glad we're both alive," I said weakly. "Um, are my eyes okay? I can't help but notice I can't see anything..."

"They'll be fine - but we had to wrap them to prevent any damage. We can take off the wrappings in the morning."

"Hello?" I asked, unsure who was speaking.

"Oh, forgive me! I'm Healer Delilah Pye." A warm, grandmotherly voice came from the left side of my feet.

"So what happened to me, Healer Pye?" I sighed, afraid of the news.

"Well, you suffered some serious trauma. The shards from the solidified potion were embedded in the back of your legs and torso; one large one even pierced your skull. We got all of them out and healed the damaged tissue, muscle, and bone, but it took a while for your body to recover. You've been in a potion-induced coma for five days."

"Will there be any long-term effects?" My father asked.

"We honestly don't know," Healer Pye spoke. "Mrs. Lovegood doesn't recall every ingredient she put in the potion, so we can't recreate it accurately."

I heard a faint sob.

"Don't worry, Mrs. Lovegood," I rushed to assure her. "It wasn't your fault. You said it was a solution that allowed you to See the future?"

"Yes," The inventor answered. "I know I used lovage, armadillo bile, and some peppermint, but I don't remember the rest."

"It's okay," I told her again, although inwardly I was frustrated, doubting I'd ever be able to recreate what she had made.

"You can leave your bed and walk around a bit, and if you're still fine by tomorrow afternoon, you can go home," Healer Pye told me. "But if you feel ill at all, you will have to come right back."

"I understand," I told her seriously.

"I'll let you have some time to yourselves, now," Healer Pye finished. "I'll check on you in an hour."

"Feel better, Lisa!" Luna said, and came over to hug me tightly. I hugged back after a moment, quite surprised.

"Take care," Mrs. Lovegood said, and I heard the sounds of the two female Lovegoods leaving, followed by Healer Pye.

Nathan and Tomas helped me get up, and I walked around the room, listening to the others tell me about the last week - I had missed five days. My legs were a bit wobbly at first, but after walking around the room a few times, they felt almost as good as new.

After a while, things settled down, and I heard Dad sigh.

"Darling, I have to go back to work," Dad told me apologetically as he leaned down to kiss my cheek.

"Not a problem," I answered, smiling at him - or at least in his general direction. "I'll miss you, but go! Bring home bacon!"

He grinned, and headed downstairs to apparate back to the Ministry.

"You boys should probably go back," I told my older brothers. "What classes are you missing?"

"Potions," Nathan laughed. "So I'd be happy to stay."

"I've got NEWT Charms," Tomas' voice was wistful.

"That's your favorite class!" I laughed lightly. "Go on, get!" They all gave me heartfelt hugs and left to floo back to Hogwarts.

"Where's Harry?" I asked Mum and Mira, who were still there.

"He's on the chair, sleeping - he fell asleep holding your hand," Mum said fondly.

"I don't need naps," Mira said. I could just hear her rolling her eyes.

"He was tired - he's been with you all the time, Lisa," Mum told me. "He'll be sad that he missed you waking up."

"Well, now I won't miss him waking up," I smiled. "How's the company, mum?"

"Just fine, dear, Remus is doing a fine job," she reassured me.

"Good, just as I thought… Mum, I feel fine now," I told her honestly. "Do you need to go back to work?"

"No," she told me with a smile. "My boss understands, he told me to only come back when you're all better."

"Mr. Almond is nice," I agreed. "But I know he's short staffed without you. Leave Mira and Harry with me, I'm sure we'll be fine." Mum kissed my cheeks and whispered her love in my ear before waving goodbye and leaving for work.

"I was terrified," Mira told me softly. It was now just us and Harry, who was asleep anyways. I squeezed her hand reassuringly and grinned.

"I would have been scared as well. Thanks for sticking with me anyways." She smiled at my words, and soon enough, had fallen asleep on my other side, still holding my hand.

Healer Pye came back into the room a few minutes later.

"It'll help you sleep, and heal faster," She whispered, and I obediently drank the potion she presented me with.

I could feel the difference right away.

My eyes tried to close, and I stopped fighting, happy to join them in dreamland.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Yes, this is an OC-centric story. If that's not your thing, that's fine. PS - this chapter is when the plot, as we say, thickens...

Disclaimer: These characters are totally not mine - they belong to JK Rowling.

* * *

September 16th, 1990

When I woke up, I struggled to open my eyes. The wrappings had been taken off while I slept, and I could finally - oh my God.

Something was different. Let me take that back - everything was different! Nothing was the proper color anymore, and it was hurting my eyes.

Mira was covered with wisps of purple smoke, and a gold, red and green glow surrounded Harry. The entire room had traces of glowing colors that all tried to grab my attention at once. I did the only sensible thing a ten year old could do.

I screamed.

Mira and Harry woke up with a start.

"What is it?" Harry asked quickly. "Lisa, are you okay?"

I covered my eyes and groaned loudly.

"My eyes – my head – it _hurts_!"

"Is it a sharp pain?" Healer Pye had run into the room.

"Yes – the colors are making my brain throb," I complained.

"What colors? Is the light too bright?"

"No! But Mira's gone all purple, and Harry's glowing all sorts of colors…" I tried opening my eyes again. "AHHH! You're all yellow, Healer Pye!"

Through my squinted eyes, I noticed her look of shock.

"It couldn't be..."

"What?" Harry yelled frantically. "What's wrong with her?"

Healer Pye simply shoved a potion vial to my mouth, and I quickly drank it.

"What's wrong with my sister?" Mira demanded.

"The accident had some unintended aftereffects -"

"Duh!" Mira was upset.

"What is it?" Harry demanded, and Healer Pye got right to the point.

"If my suspicion is correct, your sister can now read magical auras."

"Huh?"

* * *

A few hours later, the pain was gone, and I could look about normally.

"Aura Sight is very rare, even rarer than True Sight," Healer Pye had explained earlier. "You're to take this potion once every week for the next few months, to help you adjust to the added strain on your eyes. Now, with your power, you'll be able to detect a witch or wizard's strongest magical talent, which is often a guide to their true character. I have here a comprehensive book on Aura identification, which I think will be helpful to you. It was written by an Aura Reader in the late nineteenth century – there have been only four Aura Readers documented worldwide since then."

"Thank you…" I looked at her sharply, then winced, and just squinted at her instead. "Healer Pye - please don't tell anyone besides my parents about this talent, will you?"

"Of course," She nodded, looking rather affronted. "There is such a thing as healer patient confidentiality."

Then Mira and Harry took turns reading sections out of the book out loud. It had some incredibly useful information in it…

I soon learned that Healer Pye's aura, which had been pale yellow with flecks of orange, told me that she was kind, caring, and passionate – with a magical talent for healing. Mira's aura was mostly royal purple, with a hint of dark green, which indicated that she was versatile and creative, loyal and hardworking, and would probably possess a transfiguration talent and perhaps some herbology skills.

Harry's aura was a mixture of dark red, which indicated that he was strong, bold, and unwilling to give in, light blue, which meant he was curious and a good listener, and a strange swirl of combined bronze and gold, which showed that he had great magical power, was charismatic, and would be a good leader.

Most of the healers running about had some of the same pale yellow in their aura that Healer Pye had, though none of the others had quite as much of it as my Healer did. Unfortunately, quite a few people had a lot of light red, the sand element, in their auras. Light red, I had learned (as well as sensed) indicated mental weakness and the tendency to follow others.

When I finally started examining my own aura, I wasn't very surprised. I was predominantly dark blue, the moon element, which indicated intelligence, ingenuity, and a charms talent, although I had some dark brown, an earth element, showing sensibility, practicality, and talent for languages, and white, the star element, which indicated a bright personality and great magical skills.

Harry encouraged me to go for a walk with him and Mira about the hospital, which turned out to be a rather brilliant idea. My legs grew stronger with each step, and I also got to examine the patients' auras. Sadly, most had their true auras dimmed by sickly gray glows, which I could easily figure meant that sickness was consuming not only their bodies, but their auras as well.

But something strange happened when we reached the long term spell damage ward.

This was the ward where people like Frank and Alice Longbottom were kept. There were a couple dozen people here, wizards and muggles alike, who had been tortured out of their minds by Death Eaters in the last war with Riddle.

All they had left was their bodies, because their minds had been destroyed long ago. These people were technically alive, but incapable of truly enjoying life. Those that could still walk around and talk were luckier than the ones that lay still, unmoving and unknowing. But even if they talked, it was incoherent ramblings that nobody could understand. It was sad, but understandable that society had given up hope on finding a cure.

The patients in the long term ward were mostly visited once every few years, if they were lucky – most of their families had long since given up hope.

Today, though, there was a small boy sitting by a woman's bed, stroking her hand as he talked to her quietly and patiently. I knew who it was immediately.

It was Neville Longbottom, small and plump and earnest faced - not much different than the first of Hermione's memories showed him as. I was about to leave him to it when I realized something strange about these patients.

I couldn't sense their auras properly. They weren't even covered with gray, like most sick people should be. Instead, there seemed to be a glimmering wall around their auras, keeping them from getting out.

My mind whirled with ideas.

"Hi," I said to Neville as he stood up. "Do you mind if I talk to your mum as well?"

"I – I guess not," he said, quite surprised. "Wh - why do you…"

"I heard she was a wonderful Auror," I said honestly. "One of the bravest ones out there, alongside your Dad, of course."

"Yeah. I've heard that too," Neville said sadly.

"Can I – do you mind if I try something?"

"Try what?"

"I can't read her magical aura, but I wanted to try and find it. I can see magical auras, maybe I can manipulate them as well."

"It won't hurt her, will it?" Neville frowned. It was clear that he loved his mother, despite how little he knew her.

"It won't."

"All – all right then."

So I sat on the stool and began focusing on Alice. It took a few tries to find a place in her mind to slip into, but I found it. A blur of memories – of objects, and single words, and feelings. Everything was jumbled – but _there_ was a strand.

Afterwards, Harry and Mira would tell me that I grasped Alice's hands tightly and my hazel eyes turned as black as my pupils. I was too busy concentrating on what was inside Alice.

The Cruciatus curse hadn't just frayed her nerves; it had also blown her mind – and her magic – until a million little pieces.

It was the most interesting puzzle I'd ever worked on. First I found all the strands of her aura, and once I'd connected the dark red to the bright orange, her aura was complete. Her magic was eager to mend her mind – and it helped me piece together the memories.

In a rush, I could see everything Alice Longbottom had ever seen – every lesson she had ever learned, every boy she had kissed, her wedding to Frank, her absolute joy upon first holding her baby boy, and the last memory, that of her passionate defense of her family when faced with Death Eaters invading her home, then falling, hurting, thinking she was dying…

When it was complete, I sat back and looked at Alice. She opened her eyes and looked at me.

I had never seen someone so happy before, and I blinked so as not to cry.

"Thank you." She said, knowing exactly what I had done.

"M - mum?" Neville's eyes were wide with shock.

"Neville," she breathed. In one moment, she flung back the covers and stepped out of bed to take her son in her arms, for the first time in almost nine years.

I stepped back, wiping at my eyes furtively, leaving them to cry and hold each other tight.

* * *

After putting together Alice's mind, I got to work on Frank. It was bit easier the second time around. His aura was interesting – dark green (loyalty and hard work) alongside pale yellow for kindness and compassion.

I finished with him, accepted his thanks, and stored all of his memories away in a safe compartment in my mind.

The next hour was a blur. I moved from bed to bed, restructuring auras and minds until they were perfect. I even took care to make the memories of the torture they had suffered much more faded than it ought to be, instead choosing to highlight the best moments of their life for them. After all, why shouldn't these people be happy? They'd lost many years off their lives, they deserved much more than I could give them.

I was so absorbed in my work, I barely noticed the surprised cries of the Healers who entered the ward and realized that their patients were awake and fully cognizant of their surroundings. They quickly started performing medical checks on the cured patients, but they were all seemingly normal again.

When I finished, twenty-seven people from the long term spell damage ward were perfectly healthy and sane, and ready to go home after all these years. Next, I had everyone I healed, as well as all of the Healers, swear a Wizarding Oath to not tell anyone that I had healed them.

"I thought you liked publicity," Mira whispered to me, quite confused.

"Sometimes," I admitted with a flush. "But I didn't want to give away all of my talents. Anyways - what if someone wanted to use my powers for something bad?" I pointed out.

When that was finished, I went back to my room and collapsed on my bed.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"I'm just so tired," I sighed.

Yes, I wished I could feel on top of the world right now, but I was entirely too exhausted. I've been doing too much lately… Trying to make time for everyone, while also brewing and helping running the business.

Did you know England is already calling me the 'Girl Wonder'? The new sister of the 'Boy Who Lived', the young heroine of the people - symbol of the middle class, half-blood families.

Witch Weekly said last week that 'Miss Turpin had struck out for herself, showing the world just how _anybody_ could succeed in the Wizarding World.'

I've become a symbol - much like Harry. What does that mean? Probably, that I will be on the front lines of the war to come.

But I will be right alongside Harry, which is where I know I ought to be. I've put things in motion to change the future irrevocably for hundreds - no, thousands, of people. Even when I'm exhausted, I know that I'm responsible for changing things so much - and therefore responsible for making sure things end up right, and not worse off for what I've done.

* * *

September 17th, 1990

Yesterday afternoon, I was carefully examining Harry's aura… Guess what I found?

Firstly, there was a strange bit of silver aura near his heart, in addition to a black aura on his scar.

It only took a few hours for me to move the black aura from his scar - clearly the horcrux - to a piece of parchment, which I threw into a poison I was brewing. The parchment, and the horcrux, had dissolved in seconds. One horcrux down. I had to sleep for about fourteen hours afterwards - but it was worth it.

Today I went back to Harry's aura, and after some studying of the book, and a few intuitive leaps, I discovered that the silver aura was another unnatural bit of Harry's aura, another 'gift' that Riddle left him with. Although this gift was useful – it eventually became clear to me that the silver was what gave Harry his parseltongue talent.

I had talked to Harry about a little bit of manipulation of his aura, and he agreed to give me free rein over it - he's so trusting…. He thinks that he simply had a bit of dark magic in his scar, and that I simply vanished it. I did tell him the truth about what I did with the silver parseltongue aura.

We were sitting outside, in the backyard,

Carefully, I tugged on the silver strand, and discovered that it was rooted to Harry's magical core, and couldn't be removed. But when I pulled it far enough, it naturally elongated, and grew to three times its normal length. I then snipped off two-thirds of it, halved that, and shared it between me and Mira, so now the three of us can all talk to snakes.

I imagine this might come in handy some day in the future...

* * *

September 22nd, 1990

I should have known things were far too good to be true.

When I was chatting with Mira this morning, casually wondering what house she would be in when she went to Hogwarts, we couldn't decide between Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.

So that evening, I perused my memories of the dream _very _carefully, to try and see which house Mira was in.

But I discovered something strange – Harry had never seen Mira in the dream of the future: she simply wasn't at Hogwarts. In fact, he had never seen Cody or Nathan either, despite the fact that they were to be in their sixth and third years during Harry's first year.

_Why weren't any of them at Hogwarts?_

I was terrified, especially when I finally examined Harry's view of myself. The Lisa Turpin in Hermione's memories was in Ravenclaw, never spoke out in class, and usually sat by herself at meals and in classes. I had never been one of the top scorers in the year, and seemed completely insignificant.

_Why had I changed so much in the dream? What had made me change so drastically?_

There was one simple answer to all of my questions.

Somehow, before Hogwarts started next year, Mira, Cody, and Nathan will be dead.

That would certainly be enough for me to give up on my plan and wallow in my depression, explaining my anti-social ways in Hermione's memories.

If something happened to three of my siblings – and possibly Tomas and my parents as well – I had no idea what it could be.

I don't think I'm going to be able to sleep tonight.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: Thank you all for your kind reviews! Sorry about the long wait, I will try and be more prompt with updating in the future. School is taking up a lot of my time these days!

* * *

September 25th, 1990

For the last three days, I've been wandering around the house and _Belle_ aimlessly. My parents were so concerned that they brought me to St. Mungos today for a check-up, but they didn't find anything new wrong with me.

While we were there, I asked Healer Pye a number of questions on leading causes of death for wizards. She was rather shocked to be asked, but answered promptly.

The most common cause of death (other than natural death or illness)for wizards was magic-related accidents at eight percent. (Just as Mrs. Lovegood had perished in the dream, many wizards experimented with magic beyond their knowledge or control and killed themselves in the process. Also, when wizards were particularly tired, or drunk, or ill, apparating could lead to a serious splinching accident, and almost instant death.) After 'natural causes' and magical accidents came homicide at three percent, then suicide at two percent and non-magical accidents at one percent.

I immediately ruled out suicide, and contemplated what could have happened. After convincing them to give Mira a thorough medical exam as well, I knew it couldn't have been some kind of genetic disease. It probably wouldn't be a terrible illness, because that would have caused a panic in the Wizarding community if it killed three people and could possibly infect others; the dream had not talked about such a calamity in the community at the beginning of Harry's first year.

So magical accidents and murder were at the top of the list.

But you know what? It doesn't matter what it is…I will stop it from happening.

Nothing matters more than protecting my family… Which I shall do, at any cost.

* * *

September 28th, 1990

Yesterday brought me an eagle owl carrying a threatening letter.

_You will stop helping the werewolves or we will see you and your family dead._

I showed it to my parents, who were just as worried as I am, and agreed to let me pay for some stronger wards around the property that protect against magical accidents and intruders alike. I've also had better precautions placed on the floo; now, people can still floo call us, but only our close friends, who we've keyed into the wards – which can't be fooled by glamours or polyguice – can floo over when they like.

Our house is now Unplottable, which is very useful. Remus even cast a handy spell that removed the knowledge of where we lived from the minds of everybody who knew, excepting our closest family and friends (Aunt Christine, Uncle Oliver, my cousins Sydney, Dylan, Jillian, and Carl, Sirius, Remus, my mum's friends Samantha Green & Leanne Claypool, my dad's friends Edward Zabini and Devin Clearwater, Clara Lovegood, Zenophilius Lovegood, Luna Lovegood, Alice Longbottom, Frank Longbottom, Neville Longbottom, Miranda Humphrey, Darryl Humphrey, and Healer Pye).

The consequences of the threatening letter are more than I'm letting on. In the other 'future,' I had never had the dream, and hadn't been able to get as far with my plan as I did now.

So I hadn't been a known threat to_ anybody, _and wouldn't have received threatening letters.

I had caused another threat to my family, in addition to whatever plagued us in the dream. I know guilt isn't healthy, so I refuse to feel guilty, but I just wish I could go back to the carefree existence I had only days ago.

* * *

October 16th, 1990

I can't protect all of them every minute of the day. It's simply impossible.

I've slowly gotten back into the swing of things, while still being on the lookout for any threats to my family. My potions skills have gotten good enough that I've been creating new potions based on the ones I've done. I've made several new lotions, and even a hair-removing potion that doesn't sting at all, and lasts for about a week. My mum thinks that the latter invention is a miracle (although I didn't need to hear my Dad saying how much he loved her silky soft legs... ew!), and is much easier and more long-lasting than the hair-removal spell. Luckily a lot of the wizarding world agrees with Mum, and the sales at _Belle_ show it.

The most relaxing part of my days is going flying with Harry and Mira. There's something about losing yourself in the air that is like nothing else. It makes me feel completely free – and for a few hours, I can completely forget all my worries.

We've been practicing Quidditch with the full set that I bought in late September. Mira and I know we'll never be as naturally good as Harry, but we're quite fast, and can keep the Quaffle away from Harry, with Luna's help.

Luna has been coming over almost every morning since the incident with Mrs. Lovegood's potion. She isn't awestruck by me at all, which is a great relief. Luna isn't afraid to say whatever she pleases without caring about what other people think about her, and I admire that.

In some ways, she acts younger than the rest of us – she throws herself into whatever activity we do, whether it's studying, playing cards, cleaning, or racing on our broomsticks. But her enthusiasm just makes our activities more enjoyable for everyone – me, Mira, Harry, Luna, and Neville.

Neville Longbottom has visited with his parents quite a few times since I healed them. Unlike Luna, he was initially very quiet around me, unsure what to think of the girl who gave him back his parents.

I solved the problem by "accidentally" making one of my potions explode in my face, making Neville, the only other in the lab, help me out quickly by putting a healing balm on my skin. When he was finished, and the potion was cleaned up, I thanked him seriously.

"Now we're even," I said firmly, and he nodded slowly but firmly.

"All right."

Since then, he's gained quite a bit of self-confidence, and has become a part of our group. It's almost hard to believe we've only known him for a few weeks. Neville is shy on many occasions, but is never afraid to help us out, and often provides us with brilliant, albeit quirky ideas.

When we're together, Harry's usually the most energetic. His impetuousness has almost gotten him into trouble(like when he tries extremely difficult flips on his broom and almost falls off) several times, but we all agree that he has the most fun ideas for new games and activities. But he's still the sweetest boy I could ever ask for in a 'twin' – considerate of everybody's feelings and ideas.

Mira, as always, is the most good-natured of the five of us. She's laid-back, cool-headed, and never fails to make us laugh with her ironic comments. Although she and Luna have been friends for years, they seem to have gotten even closer recently. Mira is also the best at calming Harry down when he's a bit overenthusiastic about something. Their personalities are so different that you'd think they wouldn't get along, but they're really best friends.

Somehow I fit perfectly into this group of friends. A lot of the time, I find myself being the most serious one, and I lead the others in more serious pursuits like reading, or brewing potions (they are all getting quite talented at it, especially Neville, who picked it up quickly about hearing how the different plant ingredients interact).

But sometimes I let go of my serious side and have fun being a kid. I fly about with them, tease them, and sometimes, giggle for absolutely no reason.

I rather like still being ten.

* * *

October 25th, 1990

Of course, sometimes I feel the urge to go on with my plan.

Today I finished going through the memories of the last of the people whose minds I pieced back together at St. Mungos. It made me angry. Tara Crawford was twenty-three when she was caught in a Death Muncher raid, and tortured into a state of chaos (that's what I call it) by Walden Macnair. She lost twelve years of her life because of one man. Macnair was also the one to torture five of the other patients I cured.

He seriously deserves to die. I'm sure there's a way I can come with to get him out of the picture.

An hour later... I've had the most amazing idea. Hopefully it will work as well as I imagined it will...


End file.
